The boy killed Sonic employee Matthew Davis in May in Keene, Tex., after the 12-year-old’s uncle got into a fight over urinating at the chain’s parking lot, police said.
The boy killed Sonic employee Matthew Davis in May in Keene, Tex., after the 12-year-old’s uncle got into a fight over urinating at the chain’s parking lot, police said.
A 13-year-old Texas boy has been found “the equivalent of guilty” in the murder of a Sonic restaurant worker with an AR-style rifle after the child’s uncle got into a fight with the employee, according to authorities.
The boy was arrested on May 13 after police received calls about a shooting at the Sonic Drive-In in Keene, Tex., about 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. The boy, who was 12 at the time of the shooting, was found “delinquent,” which is the equivalent to guilty in juvenile court, of a murder charge on Oct. 5. The boy, who is from Fort Worth but hasn’t been publicly identified because of his age, was convicted after nearly seven hours of deliberation, the sheriff’s office announced Sunday.
The boy is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said. A juvenile convicted of murder in Texas could face up to 40 years in prison, according to state attorneys.
Police say the incident unfolded when the boy’s uncle, Angel Gomez, started urinating in the parking lot of the Sonic on the night of May 13. Matthew Davis, a 32-year-old Sonic employee, confronted Gomez, 20, for “being disorderly in the parking lot,” and the argument between them got physical, according to the Keene Police Department.
Then, Gomez’s nephew, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, retrieved an AR-style .22 rifle and shot Davis at least six times, according to police.
“A confrontation between two adults became physical at which point the 12-year-old boy got out of the vehicle and fired multiple shots, striking the victim,” the sheriff’s office said on Sunday.
Davis was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
By the time police arrived at about 9:40 p.m., the boy, Gomez and the boy’s aunt had fled the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. Gomez later returned to the scene of the crime and was arrested, the Keene Police Department said in a news release. Authorities found the boy in Rio Vista, Tex., about 13 miles south of the Sonic in Keene, and took him into custody.
Gomez is also charged with murder. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney, and court records were not available to determine the status of his case. If he’s convicted, Gomez could face a sentence of five to 99 years in prison.