A woman in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail since February for her alleged role in the murder of 31-year-old Isaiah Brandon Wagner, of Beaumont, has admitted to manslaughter and is asking the court to reduce her $1 million bond in return for full cooperation in the pending prosecution seeking justice in the homicide.
Mychelle Cole, 24, was arrested Feb. 8 on a murder warrant connected to Wagner’s shooting death, which occurred just over a week prior.
According to information released by investigators and prosecutors, officers found Wagner’s body on the side of the Beaumont Heights Apartment Complex on the corner of Dowlen Road and Phelan Boulevard just minutes before midnight, Jan. 30, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Evidence suggests, however, that Wagner could have been targeted for violence, and was the victim of an aggravated assault that happened in the 2100 block of Grand Street on Jan. 24, the week before his shooting death.
During the prior incident, Wagner and his vehicle had been shot at more than 40 times, according to an affidavit charging Wagner’s alleged killers.
Cole’s co-defendant, 23-year-old Kedrain Perkins, was identified as the shooter in the original shooting. Police allege Wagner testified that he knew Perkins was the shooter, as he and the alleged gunman were former friends.
When police caught up to Perkins following Wagner’s death on Jan. 30, Perkins was reportedly driving the vehicle that was identified in the Jan. 24 shooting attempt on Wagner’s life.
As of Oct. 19, Perkins is currently residing in the Jefferson County Jail with a bond set at $2 million – $1 million each for two alleged murders occurring less than a month apart. In addition to allegedly being the gunman in Wagner’s death, Perkins is also facing prosecution for the New Year’s Day 2022 death of Felton Jones. Like Wagner, Jones’ shooting was reported shortly before midnight.
Officers ultimately recovered Jones’ body from inside of a vehicle in the 4500 block of Bethlehem Avenue. According to police, Jones went to a house in the area to pick up his then 4-month-old child. Police believe Jones was shot multiple times while sitting in his vehicle in the driveway.
According to investigators, Perkins was tied to the area during the time of the shooting through cell phone data and the accused also admitted to a third party that he was involved in the murder.
Cole, not charged in the Jones murder, pledged “full and complete cooperation with the state” – at least in the murder case seeking justice for Isaiah Wagner. In return, according to prosecutors, the state will not object to a bond reduction for Cole, who admitted in open court to the crime of manslaughter on Oct. 18.
The plea arrangement allows the court to sentence Cole to the full range of punishment afforded to the lesser degree manslaughter felony, “after the conditions of this plea have been satisfied,” Criminal District Court Judge John Stevens read into the record.
Evidence presented by the prosecution showed that Cole was mentally competent and waived any right to appeal.
“The defendant is going to have to perform obligations pursuant to this contract as a condition precedent to the court holding a sentencing hearing on this case,” Stevens also determined. “If she’s complying with her obligations – and to be full, complete and truthful,” Stevens said, writing the same as conditions of any future bond reduction, “I’ll look at it.”