3 Chicago Men Charged With Murder After Craigslist-Advertised Pot Sale Goes Awry In South Austin

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Police have arrested three Chicago-area people in connection to the death this week of a man they met after responding to his Craigslist ad selling marijuana.

Arrested were for capital murder were Savon Galloway, 22; Christopher Hamilton, 19; and Akeem Bradford, 22. A fourth subject arrested on unrelated charges was identified as Keon Walton, 19, charged with one count of assault with injury family violence.

Police said Galloway and Hamilton were taken into custody by Williamson County SWAT team members on Friday, while Bradford and Walton were taken into custody by Austin Police earlier that afternoon.

The victim was identified as Cutberto Moran-Ayala, 26. Police said all four of the men charged after the incident are from the Chicago area.

According to police, a friend drove Moran-Ayala to 4509 E. St. Elmo Rd. just before 10 p.m. on Thursday evening after having advertised marijuana for sale on Craigslist. Akeem Bradford contacted Moran-Ayala and the two agreed to meet for the sale. While in the parking lot, Bradford got into the back seat of the car to discuss the transaction with Moran-Ayala, police said.

Within moments, Galloway approached the vehicle and tapped on the driver’s door while brandishing a silver-colored handgun before firing into the vehicle, police said. As Galloway reached into the vehicle with the firearm in his hand, Moran-Ayala grabbed the gun in wrestling it away. Police said Moran-Ayala managed to fire off some shots at Galloway from inside the vehicle with the gun. Hamilton then returned fire as Moran-Ayala’s friend sped away from the scene with the victim, who sustained multiple gunshot wounds from the violent encounter.

The friend drove Moran-Ayala back to his residence at 8038 Exchange Dr. and called police.

In an earlier police account when details first began to emerge, officials said officers performed CPR on the victim at the residence in Exchange Drive after finding him not breathing while waiting for paramedics arrived. But the efforts were futile, as Moran-Ayala was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:19 p.m., police reported.

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