A North Carolina woman has been arrested in connection with a March shooting in Dallas that investigators say was carried out using a fake food delivery to lure the victim to his front door.
Marquita Rice, 31, was taken into custody on May 26 in Wake County, North Carolina, and remains jailed on a $1 million bond while fighting extradition to Texas. She faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon involving family violence.
The shooting occurred on March 1 at a home in the 1800 block of Sedona Lane in the city’s Redbird area, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Investigators said a delivery driver arrived at the residence with food that the victim had not ordered. As the driver approached the front door, a suspect dressed in dark clothing allegedly waited out of sight near the garage.
When the victim opened the door, the suspect rushed forward and opened fire, police said. Authorities allege the shooter initially fled before returning to fire additional rounds.
The victim was struck 18 times but survived the attack.
Detectives determined the food order had been placed to draw the victim outside, leading investigators to conclude the shooting had been planned.
Rice and the victim are known to one another, according to police. Authorities identified her as the victim’s ex-wife.
Dallas police Detective Michael Bui said surveillance footage played a key role in the investigation, despite poor image quality.
“The taillights make a big difference for my case,” Bui said, per Fox 4 KDFW.
Investigators focused on a Chevrolet Trax seen in the area around the time of the shooting. Bui said the vehicle traveled through several states before and after the attack.
“All the way from Georgia to Dallas and back,” Bui said. “And from Savannah, from Raleigh to Georgia to Dallas.”
Bui said the investigation eventually connected the vehicle to Rice.
“I tracked down the car, and from that moment, the car revealed that it was rented out to Miss Rice, who is the ex-spouse of the victim,” he said.
Police said Rice was located and arrested by U.S. Marshals and the Wake Forest Police Department in North Carolina. She is being held in the Wake County jail pending extradition to Dallas County.
Bui described the case as unlike any he has previously investigated.
“It was the first case he has worked in which an ex-spouse is accused of carrying out a shooting in this manner,” according to police.
Authorities continue efforts to return Rice to Texas to face the charge. Police are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Michael Bui by email at [email protected] or by phone at 214-671-3568.