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A 55-year-old Port Neches man was arrested Friday on a charge of tampering with evidence in connection to the March 17 fatal shooting of Bobby Francois, 42, at Prince Hall Apartments.

Kenneth Wayne Tones was arrested on a warrant at approximately 3 p.m Friday after he was stopped in the 2900 block of 36th Street. 

The fatal shooting happened at about 1:15 p.m. Monday at Prince Hall Apartments. 

The alleged shooting suspect, Najel Hopkins, 28, was originally charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charges were increased to murder after Francois’ death Wednesday morning. 

Hopkins is a security guard at the apartment complex and both he and the victim reside at there.

According to the probable cause affidavit, initial reports were that the apartment complex security guard shot a male subject and the alleged shooter was identified as Hopkins. 

Investigators were told Hopkins was being driven to the police station for a statement. 

Police reviewed surveillance footage from the complex that reportedly showed the two men arguing and Hopkins pushed the victim. A man stepped in to separate the two and the victim began putting his hands in the air while backing away.

The officer stated in the document that the victim “only had a cell phone in one hand while the other was empty.” As the victim continued to back away, 

Hopkins reportedly pulled out a handgun and began firing multiple shots at the man who began running before falling to the ground.

After the shooting Hopkins was allegedly seen on the security footage picking up the shell casings before fleeing the scene. 

Hopkins spoke with a detective and made a statement regarding his connection to the shooting. He was placed under arrest on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon with bond set at $200,000. The bond has been increased with the new charge to $1 million.