Suspect arrested in deadly shooting of sisters at Texas A&M-Commerce dorm, cops say
A suspect has been arrested in the deadly shooting of two sisters in a Texas A&M University-Commerce residence hall, school officials said.
Jacques Dshawn Smith is charged with capital murder in the Monday shooting of Deja Matts, a 19-year-old freshman at the school, and her sister Abbaney Matts, 20, authorities said.
The sisters were found dead in Pride Rock residence hall, officials said. Smith is an ex-boyfriend of Abbaney Matts, officials said. Neither were students at the university.
The 2-year-old son of Abbaney Matts was injured in the shooting but released to the care of family, officials said. The boy was shot in the leg, WFAA reported.
Timothy Matts, the sisters’ father, told WFAA that his daughters had just been home for a family birthday party. Abbaney and her son were going to spend the night at the dorm after driving Deja back to school, Matts told the TV station.
“I think it was a coward move,” Matts told WFAA. “I mean that someone would do something like that. My daughters were fun, uplifting, they had plenty of friends. Nice folks. Know what I’m saying. They took both my daughters.”
In a 911 call released by university police, a student told dispatchers she returned to her dorm after class Monday morning to find debris in her room.
“I walked into my dorm room when I got back from class... and it looked like part of the ceiling had fallen on all of my floor and all over my desk and everything,” the student said. “Then I looked over and there’s a hole through my wall.”
The student continued describing the scene.
“It looks like something was shot through the wall and hit my calendar and the wall is all broken apart,” she said.
The school was put under a shelter-in-place recommendation Monday as police responded to the shooting, McClatchy reported. Classes are canceled through Wednesday.
Deja Matts, who was from Garland, Texas, was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in public health, officials said.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family, friends and students impacted by today’s tragic event,” President Mark Rudin said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 5:31 PM.