Two men fought over bicycle in Fort Worth. Then one drove SUV into the other
For $50, Ellis Smith was to buy a bicycle last July in Fort Worth from Kurtis King.
Smith and King were among a group of people who hung out at an illegal game room in Meacham Plaza.
Smith provided a $20 down payment, got the bike and was supposed to pay another $30 the following day.
The seller and buyer ran into each other at the game room and argued about the owed money, according to the account of two witnesses.
The argument went on for several minutes. Smith pulled out a knife. So did King.
King swung at Smith, but none of the punches made contact.
Both men grabbed onto a wheel of the bicycle and tugged it back and forth, according to a video recording that was described by Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Joey McAnally in an arrest warrant affidavit.
Eventually King got into his sport utility vehicle, drove over a curb and directly into Smith, hitting his body head-on and dragging him into the street.
King circled around, put the bicycle on top of the SUV and drove away. Smith was pulled out of the street by onlookers and was pronounced dead within the hour at a hospital. A pathologist would determine blunt force injuries caused his death.
A jury in the 213th District Court in Tarrant County last week found King guilty of murder and assessed his punishment at 35 years in prison. The panel was directed to consider a prison term of between five to 99 years or life, or, if it found King was under the influence of sudden passion, two to 20 years. King, 35, will become eligible for parole when he has served half of the sentence.
Defense attorneys Harmony Schuerman and Blake Burns successfully argued for inclusion in Judge Everett Young’s instructions to the jury an advisory on manslaughter, a reckless act. The panel was also permitted to consider whether the killing was justified because King was protecting movable property or by self-defense.
The jury concluded the homicide was an unjustified murder.
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Darren De La Cruz and Michael Mooneyham represented the state.
Judge Young’s instructions indicate that King testified in the trial’s guilt-innocence phase and not in its punishment phase.
When King’s vehicle began moving toward Smith, Smith was standing several feet away. Smith began to back up as he saw King’s SUV pursuing him, according to the affidavit.
Smith was 35 and the father of nine.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 8:22 PM.
