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Corey Thompson (Source: Dallas Police)

BALCH SPRINGS, Texas – A man already in jail on a Dallas murder charge has now been charged with another killing in North Texas, police say.

The suspect had been connected to the Balch Springs incident in 2023. Now that he’s been officially charged, the police department spoke with FOX 4 about the incident for the first time. 

Dallas prisoner charged with Balch Springs murder

The backstory:

On Dec. 20, 2023, a masked man with a rifle shot and killed Roderick Butler at an ATM off McKinney Avenue in Uptown Dallas. 

Even before an arrest was made, the Dallas Police Department told FOX 4 it believed Butler was targeted, calling it an “isolated incident,” adding, “there’s not a danger to the public.” 

It took police six days to identify Corey Thompson as the suspect and issue an arrest warrant, but FOX 4 learned the shooting was seemingly random. 

Now, Thompson is charged in a second murder during the six-day span he was on the run.

A representative of the Balch Springs PD spoke on the crime allegedly committed by Thompson.

What they’re saying:

Francisco Manriquez, a father to three girls, was dropping off his girlfriend Christmas morning when investigators say Thompson drove by their vehicle and shot Manriquez in the head. 

“We believe that it’s going to be a random murder. We don’t believe that they were targeted,” Pedro Gonzalez with PSPD said.

FOX 4 spoke with Manriquez’ girlfriend in 2023.

“I couldn’t even look up at the time that they were shooting because everything was so fast. I was scared for my life,” said Josselin Morales. “I just don’t want to keep playing it all over and over again in my head. I’m tired of crying.”

Early on, Balch Springs investigators said Thompson’s white Lincoln SUV was the suspect’s vehicle, and Thompson’s ex-girlfriend told police he had “extreme paranoia” and admitted to “committing two murders.” 

But before filing an arrest warrant, the department says it’s been waiting on ballistics testing from Dallas County’s crime lab for a year and a half.

“And with the backlog, it just took a long time for us to get those results,” said Gonzalez.

When Thompson was arrested by Dallas police in 2023, officers recovered a “rifle-style firearm.” 

The Balch Springs arrest warrant reads: “The weapon was found to be consistent in class and characteristics with the ballistic evidence recovered from the Balch Springs crime scene.” 

The 46-year-old received his Balch Springs murder charge last month. Gonzalez says Thompson is not cooperating “at all” with their detectives. 

The delay in the charge is not necessarily hurting anything, because Thompson has been in jail since December 2023 while awaiting trial for the Dallas murder. 

All cases happened while Butler was out on bond for felony criminal mischief, misdemeanor assault and terroristic threats to family.

What’s next:

The Rowlett Police Department tells FOX 4 Thompson is also a person of interest in a shooting at an intersection, during the same period as the two murders. 

The Source: Information in this article came from the Balch Springs Police Department and previous FOX 4 coverage.

Balch SpringsCrime and Public Safety