Fort Worth cousins accused of shooting two men to death at strip club

ARLINGTON — Jorge Perez did not expect to live to be an old man, his girlfriend said Wednesday.

Perez had been seriously ill during the past three years, and when they talked on the day before he died, Perez, 31, made a request of her, Reynalda Alvarez said.

"He said that if anything should happen to him, I should take care of his son, Julian," Alvarez said, speaking in Spanish to her 18-year-old daughter, who interpreted. "Julian turned 3 on July 5."

The families couldn’t get together to celebrate at the time, but "we were talking about having a big party," she said.

On July 11, Perez was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Chicas Locas club, according to police. Another man, Edgar Ruiz-Araiza, 21, who had walked out of the club into the parking lot to call his wife, was also fatally wounded, police said.

"They were targeted for the purpose of robbery," said Tiara Ellis Richard, Arlington police spokeswoman.

On Tuesday, two cousins were arrested in the slayings: Darren Jermond Bell, 25, and Robert Earl Bell, 19. Both men, who live in Fort Worth, remained jailed Wednesday with bail set at $1 million each. They each face a capital murder charge.

Darren Bell was in the Arlington Jail, and Robert Bell was in the Tarrant County Jail in downtown Fort Worth.

"I feel safe," Alvarez said Wednesday. "Now that I know that these people will pay for their crimes, I feel that Jorge can finally rest."

Witness description

A third man, who had also stepped out of the club briefly, witnessed the shooting, described the car and gave police a license plate number, according to the arrest warrant affidavit issued for the Bells.

Using that information, police tracked a 2003 Mercury Sable to a woman in Fort Worth who told officers that she let her boyfriend, Darren Bell, borrow the car on the night of the shooting, the affidavit states.

Darren Bell told police that he let his cousin Willie Bell drive the car that night, the affidavit states. When police talked to Willie Bell, who was in the Tarrant County Jail on other charges, he denied that he had been in the car.

Police said that during a second interview Tuesday, Willie Bell acknowledged that he drove the car to Chicas Locas but that he did not know that Darren Bell and Robert Bell intended to rob or shoot people.

Willie Bell remained jailed Wednesday night on the unrelated charges.

Chicas Locas

Arlington officials consider Chicas Locas, in the 3400 block of West Division Street, to be a community nuisance and have tried repeatedly to shut it down. Because the club does not have a state liquor license, its dancers are allowed to be completely nude. Patrons are allowed to bring their own alcoholic beverages.

During a January hearing on the club’s request for renewal of its permit to operate as a sexually oriented business, Arlington police testified about illegal sex acts and other activities that they said they’ve seen at the club during the past 18 months. A city board refused to renew the permit, and owners appealed to state district court.

It has been allowed to continue operating until the court rules. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.