Man gets probation for shooting at Fort Worth suspect accused of murdering his dad
The son of a 74-year-old homicide victim who tracked down and shot at a suspect accused in his father’s slaying has been sentenced to three years’ probation for the shooting.
The murder suspect was not injured, but Fort Worth police arrested him shortly after the shooting in June 2019.
A friend of the 37-year-old son also was sentenced to probation for tampering with evidence in the case.
James Artist Wilson Jr., 37, of Forest Hill, was sentenced in May to 36 months of probation with deferred ajudication on a charge of deadly conduct, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.
His friend Daniel Levion Gray, 23, of Forest Hill, was sentenced last month to two years of probation for tampering with evidence, according to court records. Gray tried to hide the handgun under a seat after the shooting.
Just days after his father was killed on June 3, 2019, James Wilson Jr. searched for the man accused of killing him, Fort Worth police said.
Wilson Jr. found the murder suspect, who is his cousin, in the 2800 block of Burchill Road, and opened fire, according to a warrant.
But Wilson missed and within minutes Fort Worth police, who had been conducting surveillance of the house where the suspect was hiding, arrested both men.
Gray also was arrested shortly after the shooting.
Murder suspect Martin Charles Wilson was taken into custody after also being fired upon by a Fort Worth police officer who believed he was holding a gun while running toward police, according to a police news release. Police later determined the object Martin Wilson was holding was a cellphone.
Martin Wilson is accused of shooting to death his uncle, 74-year-old James Wilson Sr. of Forest Hill.
“He killed the only person who was trying to help him,” James Wilson Jr. told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in a June 2019 interview hours before he was arrested.
According to family members and friends, the elder Wilson had been trying to help the younger man by giving him a place to stay in his welding shop so that he would not be homeless.
Wilson Jr. was “very angry and distraught” over the murder of his father, according to an arrest warrant.
Wilson Jr. and Gray drove to a home on Burchill Road where he believed Martin Wilson had lived before. Officers with the fugitive unit also were on scene on surveillance for the suspect.
When he drove up, Wilson Jr. saw Martin Wilson standing in the front yard. He grabbed a handgun and fired several shots, according to the warrant.
At about that same time, officers also were approaching Martin Wilson.
Wilson Jr. drove into the path of the officers, firing at Martin Wilson. At that point, officers took Wilson Jr. and Gray into custody.
Martin Wilson was arrested a few minutes later.
Martin Wilson, 31, of Fort Worth remained in the Tarrant County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $105,000 bond.
His murder trial is pending.
A bond reduction hearing for Martin Wilson is scheduled on Monday in Fort Worth, according to court records.
