Court records describe a weeklong crime spree by 18-year-olds Kaden Thomson and Mi’Quavis Taylor involving multiple vehicle thefts, burglaries and, ultimately, a murder.
The pair had stolen a half-dozen vehicles in Twin Falls, starting with a Honda Civic, Nissan Murano and Chrysler 200 that were taken either the night of Nov. 9 or early the next day, Twin Falls police say.
An attempted vehicle theft in the early morning hours Thursday in the 800 block of Capri Drive turned deadly, as it left Freddy Rodriguez, 32, dead after being shot five times with a .22-caliber pistol.
A few days prior, the keys were stolen from Rodriguez’s 2014 Dodge Caravan, and Rodriguez’s wife was afraid the thief would come back to steal the vehicle, records say.
Early Thursday morning, she saw a white pickup truck park across the street and an individual — wearing what she said were gloves and a mask — approached the Caravan. She told her husband, who grabbed a baseball bat and left the house to confront the individual.
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The suspect, who Twin Falls police say was Thomson, was in the driver’s seat. Rodriguez entered the passenger door and sat down.
His wife then heard gunshots and saw muzzle flashes, court records say. Thomson and Taylor fled the scene in a pickup truck, leaving Rodriguez, a father of three, for dead.
Taylor and Thomson were later apprehended in Boise after crashing the pickup and volunteered information about their activities to police officers, reports say.
Taylor told police he had done research on how to be a car burglar and had studied firearms and ammunition.
Taylor faces assault and battery charges as part of the non-fatal shooting at a Twin Falls parking lot, plus charges of first-degree murder, three counts of burglary, six counts of grand theft, two counts of grand theft by possession of stolen property and attempted grand theft.
Thomson faces first-degree murder charges, along with three counts of burglary, five counts of grand theft, grand theft by possession of stolen property and attempted grand theft.
In addition, Thomson faces charges of grand theft and eluding police in Ada County and is being held on a $400,000 bond.
Taylor also faces charges of grand theft in Ada County and is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Taylor’s bond in Twin Falls County is set at $1 million.
Both Taylor and Thomson remain in jail in Ada County.