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.
It’s unclear whether Gomez had a concealed-carry permit. Since September 2021, it is legal in Texas for most people over the age of 21 or over to carry a handgun in a holster without a permit both openly or concealed. While Texas law does not specifically put restrictions on who can carry a long gun such as a rifle or shotgun, some people are prohibited from owning or possessing any firearm, according to state law.
The boy’s trial at Johnson County Court lasted three days but was not open to the public because of the boy’s age.
“Please understand there is much more than what we can speak of due to the suspect being a minor and additional charges and trials possible in the future,” the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sunday news release.
A Sonic spokesperson told The Washington Post in a statement on Wednesday that the fast-food chain was “saddened to learn about the tragedy involving a franchised team member in Keene, TX,” and that the franchisee was cooperating with authorities.
Davis is survived by a fiancée and his 10-year-old son, Trystyn, who lives in Louisiana. When Davis was killed, his family started a GoFundMe to help pay for his funeral expenses. The GoFundMe had raised more than $27,000 as of Wednesday morning.
Family members told KDFW, a Fox affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, that Davis had just moved to Keene and started working at Sonic shortly before the shooting. Joyce Hardge, a family spokesperson, told WFAA, an ABC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth, in May that Davis was making money at Sonic to buy an iPhone for Trystyn so they could FaceTime together.
“He tried to make sure he did things right,” Hardge said.