Third suspect accused in 2020 shooting death of Fort Worth man killed as he went to work

A third suspect was arrested Thursday in connection with the October 2020 killing of a Fort Worth man who was shot to death as he was about to get into his pickup truck to go to work.

Family members heard the gunshots on Oct. 22, 2020, and later saw the body of Francisco “Panchito” Macias, 49, lying in front of the pickup truck he drove every morning to his job as a forklift operator at Willbanks Metals.

Investigators said the shooting occurred during an attempted robbery, according to court records.

Jail records show that 20-year-old Derrick D. Daniels of Fort Worth was booked into jail just before 5:30 p.m. Thursday.

Daniels faces a charge of capital murder in Macias’ shooting death.

Last fall, Jeremiah Daniels-Simon, 21, and Alicia Jean Peoples, 19, were arrested and accused of being involved in the homicide.

Peoples and Daniels-Simon have been charged with capital murder in the case, according to Tarrant County criminal court records. They both remain in the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth.

Police have said there could be an additional arrest in the case.

The shooting occurred about 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2020.

“I couldn’t do anything to help him,” Mirka Macias told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in a 2020 interview, referring to her father.. “I tried to turn him around but he was just too heavy.”

Her sister, Cynthia Macias, 28, was the first to call 911 to say their father had been shot outside their home in the 5100 block of Anderson Street.

She and Mirka called police four or five more times as each passing minute felt like it was dragging on, eventually starting CPR with the guidance of a dispatcher, they said. When medics arrived, they told them he had a pulse, but it was weak.

Macias was pronounced dead about a half hour later inside of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The Fort Worth man was about to leave for work when four people in a car approached him and he was shot in the head, police have said.

Fort Worth police released surveillance video of a dark-colored vehicle that they believed was connected to the killing.

This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 5:08 PM.