A young actor who appeared on the Showtime series Billions and starred in the OWN series David Makes Man while appearing in multiple feature films has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of a young man.
Homicide investigators charged 21-year-old Akili McDowell with murder in the shooting death of Cesar Peralta, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement posted on Sunday to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez’s Facebook page. McDowell was recently taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail, police said in the statement.
According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a July 20 incident that took place in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 13503 North Thorntree in East Harris County. There, deputies said that they discovered an adult male, whom they initially reported as possibly in his 20s.
The young man, who was later identified as 20-year-old Cesar Peralta, had sustained gunshot wounds and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Police said that the suspect fled the scene on the night of the murder.
McDowell, who portrayed Savion Williams in two episodes of Billions, also starred in the series David Makes Man from Moonlight scribe Tarell Alvin McCraney about a young prodigy finding his way out of poverty. The show, which premiered in 2019, ran for 20 episodes over two seasons. He also has a starring role in the upcoming feature film, The Waterboyz.
Harris County police records show that at the time of his Aug. 2 arrest on suspicion of murder, McDowell was out on bond for a theft charge. The actor had been booked on that charge on Aug. 1, the day before his arrest related to the murder of Peralta.
An email sent to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department regarding McDowell’s arrest was not immediately returned on Monday afternoon.
A $400,000 bond has been set for McDowell and as of Monday afternoon, he was still being held at the Harris County Jail Facility, according to online jail records. Police said in their statement that the investigation is ongoing and members of the public with any information on the case are encouraged to contact the Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100.