2 people, including 12-year-old, charged with murder after Sonic employee shot in Keene
A 32-year-old man is dead and two people, including a 12-year-old, are facing murder charges in his killing after a shooting at a Sonic Drive-In in Keene, according to police.
Keene is located about 35 miles south of Fort Worth, in Johnson County.
Matthew Davis, an employee at the Sonic in the 300 block of South Old Betsy Road in Keene, was shot multiple times. Davis was pronounced dead at a hospital after police found him in lying in the parking lot, the Keene Police Department said in a news release.
Angel Gomez, 20, of Fort Worth, and the 12-year-old have been arrested.
Police said they were called to the drive-in restaurant around 9:40 p.m. Saturday after reports of a shooting. When they arrived, officers found Davis and tried to save him until paramedics with the Keene Fire Department arrived. He was subsequently airlifted to Harris Methodist Hospital.
Police believe Gomez and the 12-year-old arrived in a vehicle at the Sonic restaurant in the evening and became disorderly in the parking lot. Davis, a Sonic employee, went to confront Gomez for urinating in the parking lot and an argument between the employee and the customer became physical, police said.
During the fight, the 12-year-old, also from Fort Worth, retrieved an AR-15 rifle from the vehicle and shot Davis multiple times, according to police. The 12-year-old fired six rounds at Davis, according to Police Chief James Kidd.
Gomez and the 12-year-old fled the area, but Gomez later returned to the scene and was arrested, police said.
Further investigation led officers to a location in Rio Vista, a city south of Cleburne, where the 12-year-old was found and arrested. The boy’s name is not being released because of his age.
Investigators recovered several firearms where the 12-year-old was found, according to police. Both Gomez and the juvenile face charges of murder.
Davis leaves behind a 10-year-old son, according to a GoFundMe account for funeral expenses.
The Sonic was closed Monday but residents stopped to leave flowers at a growing memorial near the restaurant.
This story was originally published May 14, 2023 at 12:41 PM.