SAN ANGELO— A San Angelo man and woman have been indicted for the murder of Eric Talton and disposing of his body near Junction in 2022.
Kenneth Lamar Harvey, 40, has been indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury for Murder and Tampering with Evidence after allegedly killing Eric Talton and moving the body to Kimble County. Brittany Schoonmaker has also been indicted for Tampering with Physical Evidence.
According to court documents, on August 24, 2022, Ramona Talton spoke with detectives assigned to the investigation and said her son, Eric, was murdered and transported out of San Angelo to the outskirts of San Antonio. This information that the victim’s mother had was from several unconfirmed subjects.
Talton said that she had been told from two individuals that Brittany Schoonmaker and Harvey were involved in Eric’s disappearance. A missing person report was sent out by the San Angelo Emergency Communication Center.
On that same day, a Texas Ranger had received the message that was sent out by the Communication Center. The Texas Ranger stated he had been called to a murder investigation with a body that had been discovered from a reported grass fire on US Highway 83 South, about seven miles south of Interstate 10 outside Junction.
A local fire department arrived and after extinguishing the flames, discovered a burned body adjacent to a road culvert. Also, the body had been found at 4:35 a.m. on August 18, 2022, but officials had not yet identified the individual. The body was sent to Central Texas Autopsy in Lockhart, Texas.
During the autopsy, fingerprints were obtained from the body and after they were sent to a crime scene technician, they were able to match the fingerprints to Eric Talton.
Phone records were obtained for Harvey and Schoonmaker and their location data was obtained as well. Schoonmaker’s cellphone was located near Vick, Texas, at 3:05 a.m. on August 18, 2022. Vick, Texas is located US Highway 87 South, one of the several paths to San Antonio and Junction.
Schoonmaker was contacted by telephone and stated that she and Harvey had travelled to San Antonio to help someone move a television and personal property. The two had allegedly arrived in San Antonio at approximately 6:00 a.m. on August 18, 2022. The individual that needed help moving, Tashika Grey, confirmed that Harvey and Schoonmaker assisted her in moving property from her apartment.
Due to the location of Schoonmaker’s phone near Vick, Texas, it was believed that the two could have placed Talton’s body at the location where it was found. From Vick, it was approximately one hour and seven minutes. This would put Schoonmaker and Harvey at the location where Talton’s remains were found around 4:13 a.m. and given the two about 27 minutes to place the body.
GPS data records were obtained for a 2022 Toyota Cross that was rented by Schoonmaker in Las Vegas, Nevada. These records showed that the vehicle was in the 700 block of West 15th Street in San Angelo, Texas. The GPS records also show the Toyota Cross at a Stripes Convenience Store on the 1800 block of North Bryant.
Surveillance video from the store showed that Harvey drove into the parking lot at around 2:00 a.m. on August 18, 2022. He went into the store and purchased cigarettes and about one and a half gallons of gas. Then, in the video, Harvey went back to the gas pump and did not appear to put the fuel into the fuel tank of the vehicle. He was then observed entering the vehicle and traveling southbound on North Bryant Boulevard.
The residence located on the 700 block of West 15th Street was the address for Harvey. A search warrant was obtained for the house where investigators, Texas Rangers, and crime scene technicians executed the warrant. Apparent blood spatter was observed in the bathroom on the wall above the bathtub. Samples were obtained and it was confirmed to be blood.
The samples were submitted with known blood samples from Talton and on March 6, 2023, it was reported that the probability of the blood being Talton’s was 201 septillion times greater than if the blood were from an unknown individual.
On August 17, 2022, Saray Mendoza Tarango was arrested for theft and narcotics. When Tarango was arrested, she was in possession of Eric Talton’s driver license. Fast forward to April 19, 2023, Tarango was interviewed. Tarango stated that she and Harvey were at Harvey’s residence. Then, Harvey advised he was leaving and after a short time, returned to the house and pushed Talton inside.
Tarango said that Harvey began to beat Talton and eventually beat him unconscious. He then threw Talton into the bathrub. She left the residence and spent the night at the Inn of the Conchos. The following morning, Harvey arrived and took Tarango back to his residence. She stated that when she entered, Talton was not moving and laying in the fetal position in the hallway. Tarango suspected Talton was dead.
On May 3, 2023, an acquaintance of Schoonmaker’s stated that he knew about Talton’s disappearance. He stated that Schoonmaker confided in him that her boyfriend, Harvey, had killed Talton and that Harvey forced her to help him dispose of the body.
Schoonmaker told the individual that Harvey wrapped Talton up and put him in the back of the vehicle. With the gasoline Harvey purchased, the plan was to burn the body. This individual then stated that the story about helping someone move property in San Antonio was used a cover to dispose of Talton’s body.
Then, on August 9, 2023, the San Angelo Police Department released information that Harvey and Schoonmaker were arrested in Dekalb County, Georgia, after warrants were issued for their arrests. They were booked into the Tom Green County Jail on August 9, 2023, after being transported back to Tom Green County.
The autopsy for Eric Talton revealed that he had blunt force trauma to the head, an acute subdural hematoma, and a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He also had fractured ribs and a fractured sternum. Talton’s toxicology report showed that he had methamphetamine in his system. Talton’s cause of death was ruled a homicide due to complications from blunt force trauma, chest trauma, with a contributing factor of acute methamphetamine intoxication.
Harvey is currently still an inmate at the Tom Green County Jail, being held on $1.5 million bond for Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence. Schoonmaker is also still an inmate in the Tom Green County Jail for Tampering with Physical Evidence. She is being held on a $500,000 bond.
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