Woman arrested in fatal shooting during catalytic converter theft in Dallas

An 18-year-old woman is behind bars after police say she played a part in a fatal shooting during a catalytic converter theft in northwest Dallas last year.

Isabel Campbell was arrested Wednesday on a charge of capital murder in the slaying of 22-year-old Sergio Maas. It’s unclear whether she has an attorney.

The morning of Dec. 1, officers responded to a shooting at a third-floor apartment in the 3200 block of Sumter Drive, near Bachman Lake, and found Maas in the living room with multiple gunshot wounds.

Before the shooting, Maas and another person heard what sounded like drilling or a weed eater in the parking lot, police wrote in an arrest-warrant affidavit. After Maas looked out the window and saw people around his car, he got his keys, stood on the balcony and activated his alarm, the affidavit says.

The person inside the apartment with Maas said they heard someone say “Die dog” followed by gunshots. Maas fell back into the room, and witnesses called 911.

Maas was pronounced dead at the apartment.

Police said the car’s catalytic converter had been cut out.

In February, gang unit detectives were conducting an operation in the east Oak Cliff and saw two men suspected of firearm offenses get into a car, the affidavit says. Police briefly followed the car before arresting the men on warrants. A third man who was driving the car also was taken into custody.

Detectives searched a residence the two men were seen exiting and found shell casings in the yard that matched those in Maas’ shooting, the affidavit says.

During a search of the driver’s cellphone, police found a message from Campbell’s email account that included an image of media coverage of the shooting. She wrote “I hope that wasn’t us” followed by “Bruh omg I think it is,” according to the affidavit.

The phone also had photos of catalytic converters that were taken about an hour after the shooting, police wrote in the affidavit.

On June 10, the driver of the car was arrested on a firearms charge. Campbell, who was with him, voluntarily went to police headquarters for an interview, police said. When police showed her the messages from the cellphone, she said she didn’t want to talk anymore, police wrote in the affidavit.

Her cellphone’s data indicated she was in the area of the shooting on Dec. 1, according to the affidavit.

Court records do not show that the three men face charges related to the shooting, and it’s unclear whether any of them is a suspect in Maas’ slaying. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Campbell remained in the Dallas County jail Wednesday, with bail set at $2 million.