San Angelo Woman's Tip Key to Breakthrough in 2019 Murder of Fort Hood Soldier

SAN ANGELO, TX — A San Angelo woman's cooperation with investigators played a pivotal role in identifying suspects in the 2019 murder of U.S. Army Pvt. Gregory Wedel-Morales, a Fort Hood soldier whose skeletal remains were found in a rural Killeen area in June 2020.

Arrest affidavits released this week detail how cell phone records in January 2020 traced one of the last contacts to Wedel-Morales' phone to a number belonging to the son of a San Angelo resident. The woman told detectives her son's phone had been stolen the previous summer by a man she knew only as "Kash." She later received information from a third party that "Kash" (identified as Darion Lequan Brown, 27) and another man known as "D" (Darius Demarcus Nobles, 28) were involved in a plan to "take someone out," with the stolen phone allegedly left with a body. 

The affidavits, sworn by Killeen Police Officer Jonathan Mueller and signed in December 2025, outline a multi-year investigation linking the killing to gang activity and a directive to retaliate against Wedel-Morales. Brown reportedly admitted to serving as a lookout while Nobles fired the fatal shot to the head, describing the location and a 9mm firearm used. Both men were affiliated with a gang and instructed to "put in work" by killing Wedel-Morales. 

Investigators built evidence over the years, including:

• Brown's September 2019 arrest in San Saba, where two firearms belonging to Nobles were recovered and later matched via the Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory to a spent 9mm shell casing found near the remains in June 2024.
• Interviews in 2024 where Brown initially denied involvement but eventually confessed his role, and Nobles acknowledged owning the firearm but denied the shooting.

Wedel-Morales was reported missing Aug. 23, 2019, after his vehicle was found abandoned in a restaurant parking lot and later towed. Murder charges were filed Dec. 30, 2025, in Bell County. Brown was served while in custody at Parker County Jail on an unrelated matter. Nobles was arrested Feb. 23, 2026, in Harris County by U.S. Marshals and is held without bond. 

The case remains active, with additional suspects not ruled out pending grand jury indictment.