Indictments issued in trail ride shooting

Nov. 29, the Jefferson County Grand Jury issued two felony indictments related to the Easter murder of Javoris Potier, 30, a former Houston resident. The accused murderer, John Joseph Gutierrez, faced charges following an incident during the “I10 Super Ride” trail ride at Leday Arena in the rural Beaumont area.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies, responding to an unrelated shooting, discovered another victim, Potier, with a gunshot wound to the torso around 1:15 a.m. Potier was transported to St. Elizabeth Hospital but succumbed to his injuries. An autopsy revealed a 9mm projectile, matching the characteristics of a 9mm Glock Marksman Barrel.

The investigation uncovered that Potier intervened in a fight between Galveston County females before being shot.

An eyewitness reported that, immediately after hearing the gunshot, they saw a Hispanic male, later identified as John Joseph Gutierrez, running away from Potier holding a pistol in his hand. “Potier looked towards Gutierrez and stated, ‘Why’d you shoot me, man,’” according to the witness’ statement.

Another eyewitness confirmed seeing Gutierrez with a firearm just after the shooting and described it as a tancolored Glock pistol.

Detective Nathan Staggs with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office later learned that Gutierrez was in a romantic relationship with 21-year-old Texas City resident, Joelicia Wade, one of the females involved in the fight and, according to Staggs, Potier was attempting to court Wade, as well.

According to Staggs, Wade and her sister Echerica Wade were interviewed separately, and both allegedly gave false statements to investigators in an attempt to conceal Gutierrez’s identity, his relationship with Joelicia Wade, and how the couple fled the scene together after the shooting, along with two of his close associates.

Gutierrez was later interviewed and allegedly made false statements about being near the shooting, being in possession of a firearm, and listing three other individuals who were with him to corroborate his alibi.

After obtaining a search warrant and subpoena, the investigation found that Gutierrez solicited three individuals on multiple occasions after the shooting and was in communication with them after their interviews with investigators. When later questioned under oath during grand jury proceedings, these three individuals all recanted previous testimony and confirmed Gutierrez requested they give false testimony to investigators to corroborate his alibi.

The two individuals who left the scene with Gutierrez and Joelicia Wade were later identified and questioned. After initial false statements, they later recanted their testimony and confirmed they rode together with Gutierrez and Joelicia Wade immediately after the shooting.

Detectives discovered several digital images were deleted from Gutierrez’s phone before it was seized during his interview, but they were able to be recovered and were of a tan Glock 19x handgun, a 9mm firearm manufactured exclusively with the Glock Marksman Barrel, and consistent with eyewitness description of the firearm he was seen running away from the shooting with, as well as consistent with the caliber and barrel identified from the projectile recovered from Potier’s body during the autopsy.

A weapon trace confirmed Gutierrez purchased the firearm in July 2021.

Under sworn testimony, one of the associates who rode home with Gutierrez after the shooting also revealed during grand jury questioning that, during the drive home from the event, Gutierrez rolled the window down, threw a tan-colored handgun out of the window, and stated that after disposing of the handgun, Gutierrez was on the phone with an unknown person and stated that he just had a shootout at the trail ride and he had to throw the gun.

Gutierrez’s girlfriend, Joelicia Evette Wade was indicted on aggravated perjury, a third-degree felony offense. According to the probable cause affidavit, on Aug. 30, Wade appeared before the Jefferson County Grand Jury and, during questioning, was asked who she rode home with when she left the event and what vehicle they were in; she answered, “Shemar.”

Investigation revealed “Shemar” as Shemar Johnson, and Wade was asked if anyone else was in the truck; she answered, “No.”

Investigation revealed John Joseph Gutierrez was in the truck with Johnson and Wade, and further revealed Gutierrez and Wade had been in a relationship since October 2022. Johnson and Patrick Charles both gave sworn testimony to the grand jury admitting they and Gutierrez and Wade all left the trail ride event together in the same truck, which belonged to Gutierrez.

“The accused was presented with evidence proving her to be untruthful and she was given numerous opportunities to change her story, which she refused to do,” the probable cause affidavit read.

Tuesday morning, Gutierrez, represented by local attorney Ryan Gertz, appeared before 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West, requesting a reduction in bond, as Gertz stated a milliondollar bond was “an oppressive amount,” and that “$200,000 is sufficient given his income and financial situation.” Gertz stated that Gutierrez had gone on a cruise out of the country while the case was being investigated, an effort to reiterate that his client was not attempting to elude law enforcement. “He hired me at a great expense to himself – or his family really,” said Gertz.

West granted the motion to reduce the bond to $600,000, requiring Gutierrez to be on house arrest and wear a GPS monitor at all times.

“You are to have no contact with Joelicia Wade or any other individual Detective Holmes identifies,” West added.

“It’s a lengthy list of witnesses and parties involved that have assisted in the investigation,” Holmes detailed.

“That doesn’t mean you just can’t see them in person,” West said. “No Snapchat, DMs, or social media that I may not even know about, and that includes your family. If they send a message to anyone involved in this case, it will come back on you.”

At press time, Gutierrez was not shown as in the custody at the Jefferson County Correctional facility. Wade was likewise not in the custody of the jail at press time, according to JCSO records.