A Wichita Falls man and his wife closed the liquor store they have owned 25 years like they normally do at 9 p.m. and drove home, only to immediately be faced with armed gang members invading their home through the garage, according to court documents.

The husband exchanged gunfire with two masked men, and his wife was shot in the leg, according to court records. The ensuing police investigation involved DNA from a shoe one suspect lost in the garage.

A Wichita County grand jury handed down an indictment against Dequavious Eugene Sanderson last week in connection with the home invasion, court records showed.

The 23-year-old Wichita Falls man was indicted on one count of burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit aggravated assault and/or attempted aggravated robbery, according to court documents filed Sept. 5.

If convicted of the first degree felony, Sanderson faces up to life in prison.

More:Police: Woman grabs hold of situation to stop assault

He remained in Wichita County Jail Tuesday on a $50,000 bond for the charge, online jail records showed.

He was also being held on ten other charges possibly connected to an alleged crime spree, according to court documents and jail records. His total bond is approximately $750,000.

A search of court records did not turn up charges as of yet against Sanderson's alleged accomplice in connection with this home invasion.

However, the man is being held in Wichita County Jail on $2 million in bonds in connection with a Dec. 2 aggravated robbery and a Nov. 27 burglary of a habitation with the intention to commit another felony.

What do police say happened?

An affidavit for arrest warrant gave this account of the incident at the store owners' home: A Wichita Falls police sergeant contacted an officer Feb. 10, 2018, about an aggravated robbery in the 1500 block of Sweetbriar.

The sergeant said someone had been injured by gunfire and transported to United Regional Health Care System. He asked the officer to respond.

The officer arrived and spoke with a husband and wife who own a liquor store in the 300 block of Seventh Street.

The wife appeared to have a gunshot wound in her left leg in the ankle/shin area.

The couple told the officer that they drove home that night in their truck after closing their store. The wife was the front seat passenger while the husband drove.

He parked the truck in the driveway of their home outside the garage.

The husband didn't see anyone follow them home, but when they got there, he saw a car with its headlights on parked down the street from their house.

The husband saw the car drive in their direction "fast" so he walked in to try get the door open and waited for his wife.

Just as his wife walked inside the garage, two masked men walked in behind her, the husband told police.

"Get down, get down," the gun wielding intruders yelled.

The husband told police he fired his gun at them, and they fired back.

More:Wichita Falls man held on $2 million bail in home invasion charges

Similar MOs

Investigators collected six assorted casings found inside the garage, as well as a Reebok Classic black and white shoe, size 10 and a half, and a black beanie.

They also took the husband's gun for the sake of comparison.

On Feb. 11, 2018, Wichita Falls officers gave the investigating officer a tip from a confidential source.

The source told police that Sanderson and another man went to "hit a lick" and got shot at so they started shooting back.

Wichita Falls police worked several aggravated robberies with very similar methods of operation from August through November in 2018.

Police spoke with confidential informants and got Crime Stoppers tips naming Sanderson and two other men as responsible for the crime spree.

On Dec. 7, 2018, members of the Wichita Falls police gang task force were looking for Sanderson and another man named on warrants for an unrelated home invasion.

They found them in a black Chevrolet Trailblazer with Oklahoma tags in the 1700 block of Oceola.

Officers tried to stop the Trailblazer, but both men fled on foot, leaving the vehicle behind.

Sanderson -- who was later located hiding in a dog house, according to court records -- was seen holding a gun.

Officers later found a black and silver Ruger 9mm handgun, which was sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety for comparison to evidence collected from the Sweetbriar home invasion.

DPS labs weigh in

The DPS lab compared DNA from a cheek swab from Sanderson to DNA from the Reebok tennis shoe left in the liquor store owners' garage.

The lab report showed four people contributed to the DNA profile from the shoe, and Sanderson couldn't be excluded as a possible contributor to the profile.

A report from the DPS Firearms and Toolmarks Laboratory showed that five cartridges collected at the couple's home were fired from the Ruger pistol.

Suppressing gang activity

Of note is that at least one gang injunction filed in a Wichita County court names Sanderson as a member of the criminal gang Hoovas, according to court records and a previous Times Record News story.

The purpose of the injunctions is to place restrictions on known gang members, allowing the gang task force to limit their criminal activity, according to the city of Wichita Falls.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. She loves getting news tips. If you have a good one, contact Trish at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.