The Murder Tapes: Who killed Evansville man Odie Carrier Jr., and where are they now?

Evansville resident Odie Carrier Jr. was fatally shot at his home one November night in 2018 when he allegedly invited a minor over to pay her for s*x. Mackayla Scarbrough, a 17-year-old minor, had been exchanging text messages with the 65-year-old and was supposed to visit him the night he was brutally attacked.

Reports state that two other teenagers (not minors), namely Connor Johnson (18) and Xzereus Dlamini (19), broke into Carrier's home via the front door, and one of them allegedly shot him in the leg. A neighbor called the cops, who found the victim unconscious, lying in his own pool of blood. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died a few days later. Three individuals were soon arrested.

ID's The Murder Tapes is scheduled to narrate the untold story of Odie Carrier Jr. this Wednesday, July 20, 2022. The episode will air on the network at 9:00 pm ET and will also be available to stream on Discovery+.

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Who were the three teenagers involved in the 2018 shooting of Odie Carrier Jr.?

Police reportedly arrested three teenagers involved in the shooting of Evansville man Odie Carrier Jr. at his home in 2018 as a result of a burglary gone wrong. On the night of the incident, Connor Johnson, Xzereus Dlamini, and Mackayla Scarbrough were found with drugs and a gun in their car. The three were later connected to the crime when text messages and other evidence proved their direct involvement.

According to the authorities and the evidence retrieved, Odie Carrier Jr. had invited Scarbrough to his home, and the minor had sent the last text to the 65-year-old man a few minutes before 9 pm, stating that she would text him once she was there. It was also confirmed that the number used to message the victim belonged to Mackayla. However, police could not confirm whether Carrier knew that the girl was a minor.

In November 2018, Odie Carrier Jr. was fatally shot in his Evansville home (Image via Mongkol Nitirojsakul/Getty Images)

Although reports did not state much of what happened while the girl was inside the house, police believe that Johnson waited outside and then forcefully entered via the front door and fatally shot Carrier while Mackayla was inside.

He later confessed that he had no intentions of shooting him in the upper body. The 18-year-old also stated that the victim had given Scarbrough $100 and that they were expecting more.

The third suspect, 19-year-old Dlamini, denied being present at the crime scene, claiming to have been visiting his grandfather when the incident took place. His grandfather, however, made a contradictory statement.

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Where is the trio now?

Three suspects allegedly involved in the shooting of Odie Carrier Jr. were arrested on the night of the incident (Image via Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty Images)

Connor Johnson, Xzereus Dlamini, and Mackayla Scarbrough were arrested at a traffic stop in the 800 block of South Elliott later on the same night Odie Carrier Jr. was shot. The three were reportedly caught at around 2:00 am in a car. They also had drugs and a handgun in possession.

Johnson and Dlamini were arrested on misdemeanor counts unrelated to the incident and put into the Vanderburgh County Jail. All three accused were charged with felony murder on top of other charges such as theft and burglary. Moreover, Johnson was the only one accused of fatally shooting the victim.

In the case of felony murder, which is considered different from murder, the guilty party is held accountable for a crime that eventually resulted in the victim's demise, regardless of whether they themselves were the ones to conduct the killing.

While Mackayla and Xzereus have been released and remain on parole in Indiana, Connor is still at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility in Carlisle, reportedly.