Five weeks after the murder of Kingston Frazier, a Mississippi judge has decided to turn the state's cases against three teens over to a grand jury. After hearing the testimony of Mississippi Bureau of Investigations' Trent Weeks, Judge Bruce McKinley said there was sufficient evidence to support capital murder charges against Byron McBride, 19, and Dwan Wakefield and D'Allen Washington, both 17, and bound the case over to a grand jury.

Byron McBride confesses to pulling trigger

In his testimony, Weeks revealed that McBride confessed to shooting six-year-old Kingston Frazier.

The Northwest Elementary School kindergartner had been asleep in the back of his mother's Toyota Camry, which McBride admitted that he stole from the parking lot a Jackson-area Kroger grocery store.

Initially, McBride tried to point the finger at Washington as being the person responsible for Frazier's death. McBride told investigators that Wakefield and Washington were following behind him in a separate vehicle on I-55. When the two cars reached the town of Gluckstadt, McBride pulled over and Washington got behind the wheel. McBride said that Washington then drove the car to a rural area, where he killed Frazier. However, McBride later admitted that he was the shooter.

Dwan Wakefield's testimony could be key

Weeks said that the investigation into Kingston Frazier's murder was ongoing. Authorities are still awaiting the results of testing from the state crime lab.

However, it appears that the testimony of Wakefield could be key if the state decides to pursue capital murder charges with the death penalty attached against Byron McBride.

According to Wakefield, via Weeks' testimony, the trio was in the parking lot to sell $10 worth of marijuana. McBride spotted the Camry and went over to check the car out.

Wakefield said that McBride wanted to steal the car to get back home to Pickens, Mississippi, which is approximately 50 miles from Jackson. Wakefield said that McBride returned to the car that he and Washington were sitting in, retrieved some items, and left, stealing the car with Kingston Frazier asleep in the back seat.

Wakefield and Washington met up with someone at a nearby Wendy's to sell the marijuana. From there, the two headed to a gas station. (According to Wakefield's attorney and Weeks, there is video evidence that shows the two teens at Wendy's and the gas station.) While at the gas station, Wakefield said that he received a telephone call from McBride, alerting him to the child in the back seat.

After telling McBride to let the child out somewhere, Wakefield said that Byron McBride responded that he was "going to off the kid." Later during the phone call, McBride told Wakefield that the car had run out of gas and asked the other two to come pick him up.

Weeks did not reveal whether investigators believe that Kingston Frazier was killed before or after Wakefield and Washington arrived at the scene.

While McBride has confessed to shooting Kingston Frazier, there is one lingering question that must be answered: when did Wakefield and Washington learn about Frazier's presence in the car?

The answer to that question could be key to determining what charges the two teens face once the case heads to the trial phase. Wakefield told investigators that he was not aware of Frazier being in the car until he received the phone call from McBride. Byron McBride maintains that he told Wakefield and Washington about the child prior to stealing the car.

A grand jury is expected to convene within the next three months. If convicted of capital murder, McBride could face the death penalty. Due to their ages, Wakefield and Washington are not eligible for the death penalty. Instead, the two would face life in prison.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED