Monday workers at the Las Brisas apartment complex

Monday workers at the Las Brisas apartment complex in Round Rock put another coat of paint over the breezeway floor that had been covered in blood Saturday.

Investigators say three teens from Georgetown, 19-year-old Derek Hawkins, 18-year-old Joshua Oldham and 18-year-old Santos Vega, confronted 25-year-old Thomas Carruthers.

"Their intent was to rob him of the drugs he was thought to be carrying," said Eric Poteet, the Round Rock Police Public Information Officer.

Police say the robbery turned into a fatal stabbing.  Arrest affidavits indicate Vega confessed to stabbing Carruthers in the chest.

"Somebody you just met and then all of sudden they are dead," said Connie Thompson, who lives at apartment complex.

Thompson said she, her daughter, and daughter's boyfriend met Carruthers and others just a couple of weeks ago. They all got together to play volleyball.

"I think it was on the news and something just clicked," said Thompson. "I was like, 'What?' It is pretty sad. Even my daughter and her friends are in shock right now."
Thompson and other apartment residents are relieved those responsible for Carruthers' death have been arrested.

"It is an extreme sense of relief that they were caught, and hopefully everything turns out right in the end," said Brianda Hernandez, who just moved to the apartment. "I am extremely relieved."

Round Rock police say they did find what may be drugs on Carruthers, but they're not saying how much or what kind.  Investigators say they'll determine that in the lab. While police still consider this an open investigation as they iron out the final details, they say all the  people responsible for  Carruthers' murder are now in jail.