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A 37-year-old man accused of killing a father and son in 2021 is facing new charges after threatening to assault or murder a jail supervisor, according to the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office said in a news release that Lawrence James Strong threatened a detention officer at the Old County Jail on July 2 after a search of his cell.
“During the search, Detention Officers located several items of contraband underneath the inmate’s bunk bed,” the release stated. “Due to this violation of the Jail rules, inmate Lawrence James Strong was transferred to Carrizales Rucker Detention Center for a disciplinary board hearing.”
The sheriff’s office did not disclose what contraband was found.
On July 4, the sheriff’s office said Strong began to question jail staff as to why he was moved and as he voiced his complaints “he became belligerent and began making threats.”
The next day, on July 5, Strong made a phone call to his family and once again threatened the same jail supervisor.
Strong is now charged with retaliation against a public servant.
He has currently pleaded not guilty to one count of capital murder, two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated kidnapping for the execution-style slaying of Inez and Manuel Cruz.
Their bodies were found on Old Port Isabel Road north of FM 511 in Loma Alta on Dec. 29, 2021.
Both men had gunshot wounds to their heads and their legs and hands were bound with a rope, authorities said previously. There was also tape over their mouths and black T-shirts over their heads.
Investigators believed they were killed at another location before their bodies were dumped.
Ramon Torres, 39, and Cesar Olvera, 23, are also charged in the case.
Olvera is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated kidnapping while Torres is charged with two counts of directing the activities of a street gang.
They have pleaded not guilty.
