Criminal Complaint details deadly shooting at Amarillo hotel

Married couple, who has worked with the Salvation Army in Texas for years, moves to Amarillo offices.
Published: Feb. 7, 2023 at 3:04 PM CST|Updated: Feb. 7, 2023 at 5:24 PM CST
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AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A complaint filed Monday concerning a weekend homicide explains how Amarillo police found the suspect.

According to the complaint, on Feb. 5, a woman entered the lobby of the Amarillo Police Department and said she wanted to report a murder that happened at the Wood Spring Suites Hotel on East I-40.

The woman led the officers to the hotel room where they found a body laying on the bed with gunshot wounds to her head. The deceased woman was later identified as Kendra Jo Vela “Owens”.

The woman told officers she had been at Vela’s hotel room earlier in the morning at around 3:30 a.m., and saw Greenleaf in the room.

She said they would not allow her to enter the room but said when Greenleaf opened the door with the chain in place, he had scratches on his face that had not been there earlier.

Greenleaf asked the woman where he could find Vela’s car keys. The woman asked Greenleaf if he could give her, her purse which she left in the room earlier.

After getting her purse from Greenleaf, she left and later returned to the room finding Vela dead on the bed and Greenleaf gone.

During the investigation officers interviewed another woman who told officers Greenleaf called her at around 4:30 a.m., and told her to gather his belongings and to meet him at a location.

When she met him, she found scratches on his face that she noticed were not there earlier. She said Greenleaf told her that he shot Vela and now has her car.