Authorities identify 3 people killed, including suspect, in Arlington domestic shooting
Arlington police are investigating a Wednesday domestic violence shooting that left two victims and a suspect dead as a double murder-suicide.
Police said they believe a man broke into a woman’s apartment and killed her and her teenage son. On Wednesday morning, they said they didn’t know yet whether the man killed himself or was shot by one of the victims.
Police later told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that Ring camera video showed the man kick in the door and immediately start shooting. Deputy Police Chief Chris Cook said it’s unlikely the woman and her son had time to defend themselves.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified those killed as suspect Christopher Ryan Baker, 36; and victims Chasity Williams, 43, and Williams’ 15-year-old son, Damajay Joseph Williams.
Damajay Williams was a sophomore at Mansfield High School, according to Mansfield Independent School District officials.
The high school’s principal sent a letter to parents and students saying the school “will miss him dearly” and is handling the tragedy with “extreme delicacy. There will be extra counselors on campus to help our students and staff as they go through the grieving process.”
Another woman was wounded in the shooting and was taken to a hospital, where she underwent surgery for serious injuries. Police believe Baker shot that woman in the head as she sat in his car before he broke into Williams’ home at the Windsprint Apartments, 2305 Windsprint Way, in east Arlington.
Police said the injured woman is believed to be a friend of Baker’s. Her name has not been released. She was found in a car in the apartment complex parking lot, and the three deceased people were found inside the victims’ apartment, police said in a news conference at the scene.
Police said the preliminary investigation suggested that Baker forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and killed her and her son.
Family members told police that Chasity Williams and Baker had a past dating relationship. The family also told police Chasity Williams got a license to carry a handgun earlier in May and recently purchased a firearm, according to Cook.
Investigators found two handguns in the apartment near the bodies. Police planned to test the victims’ hands for gunshot residue and review surveillance video as part of the investigation.
No other suspects are believed to be involved. The motive for the shootings is under investigation, police said.
Police originally responded to a call about a woman unconscious with a gunshot wound in the passenger seat of a red Hyundai in the parking lot. The car was registered to the suspect.
After running the license plate on the car, police went to an apartment whose address was connected to the suspect and saw the door kicked in at another apartment nearby, which was where the victims lived.
Cook said officers entered the apartment to do a welfare check and found the three deceased people.
He said there was no shots-fired call reported so police don’t know what time the incident occurred.
Officers were called to the apartments about 5 a.m. when a neighbor on his way to work saw the injured woman in the car, but it’s unclear exactly when the shooting happened.
Cook said police had previously responded to two domestic disturbance calls at the apartment in April. One call resulted in an offense and one was just an argument, Cook said.
He did not share any details on the domestic disturbance offense.
Fredo Casarez, a family friend, said he heard gunshots around 2 a.m. but thought they were too muffled to be coming from the property.
Casarez has been living at the apartment complex since November but said he knew the family before then.
He said the man was a combat veteran who had PTSD and recently lost his father to cancer.
The woman who died, he said, was known to most people in the apartment complex because of how friendly she was.
Other relatives of the victims live nearby but did not want to be interviewed Wednesday.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 7:35 AM.
