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A Texas father allegedly gunned down an harmless Amazon supervisor who was spending Christmas away from his household after mistaking him for his daughter’s kidnapper.
Jonathan Ross Mata, 39, was captured aiming his pistol at a fleeing SUV exterior a Shell gasoline station in Houston and unloading gunfire, killing 25-year-old Desmond Butler round 1 a.m. on Dec. 25, in accordance with footage obtained by KHOU 11.
The tragic chain of occasions started when Mata and his spouse obtained a frantic name from their 19-year-old daughter, who mentioned she had been attacked by her boyfriend, Houston Police mentioned.
She initially requested to be picked up from her cousin’s house, however a couple of half hour later, Mata and his spouse believed she would as an alternative be dropped off on the gasoline station by her boyfriend.
Moments after the frantic dad and mom arrived on the Shell station, a automobile that was pushed by a person who resembled their daughter’s boyfriend and a lady using within the passenger seat pulled into the lot, in accordance with a legal criticism obtained by Regulation & Crime.
“Defendant acknowledged that he thought his daughter was within the automobile which was pushed by (Butler) and that because the automobile drove previous them, his spouse received out and commenced chasing it on foot,” the criticism acknowledged.
Surveillance video reveals Butler driving his grey Honda Pilot into the gasoline station lot and passing the Matas’ black GMC Acadia on the pump, when Mata’s spouse abruptly hopped out and ran after the automobile, reaching for the rear passenger door.
Butler — seemingly unaware of what was taking place — then accelerated out of the car parking zone and onto an entry highway of the Sam Houston Parkway.
The footage cuts again to the GMC, the place Mata is seen strolling towards the fleeing Honda whereas armed with a pistol.
Mata then allegedly opened hearth on the Honda Pilot, hanging Butler, who then misplaced management of the automobile and crashed right into a pole.
Mata and his spouse then drove to the crash web site and pulled open Butler’s passenger door after realizing he was not their daughter’s boyfriend, in accordance with the criticism.
“(The defendant). seemed contained in the automobile and mentioned one thing to the impact of, ‘Oh, we have been in search of our kidnapped daughter, I’m sorry, we are going to name 911,’ after which drove away,” the criticism acknowledged.
By the point first responders arrived, the couple had left the scene, and Butler was rushed to a neighborhood hospital, the place he later died from his accidents.
Mata and his spouse confirmed up at police headquarters with a lawyer on Monday and claimed the lethal capturing stemmed from a kidnapping misunderstanding.
Mata advised investigators he fired two pictures on the automobile in an try and cease it, then watched it crash earlier than he left the scene with out calling for assist, in accordance with the criticism.
Mata is charged with homicide and turned himself in on Wednesday. He posted a $50,000 bond and is scheduled to seem in court docket on Feb. 25, Regulation & Crime reported.
Butler’s sister, Future, advised KHOU 11 that their household, which lives in Georgia, is “devastated” by his demise.
She mentioned her brother moved to Houston in 2023 to work at Amazon, later changing into a supervisor, and had no plans that Christmas Day.
“We simply need solutions on why him? My brother was a lightweight of pleasure,” she mentioned.
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