Fort Worth bar murder suspect caught when car got stuck near crime scene: police
An arrest warrant affidavit reveals new details of how police used surveillance video and witness statements to track down a suspect accused of killing a Fort Worth bar customer during an attempted robbery.
The affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram identifies the victim of the shooting as Anthony Aguirre.
Officers responded to the shooting at the Yellow Rose Saloon, at 2811 S. Cherry Lane in west Fort Worth, at about 3:15 a.m. Friday, Aug. 8, police said.
Surveillance footage revealed that the victim, Aguirre, was inside the bar drinking when the suspect, Dain Graham, walked in through the back door carrying a rifle inside a duffel bag, a homicide detective wrote in the affidavit.
Video shows that Graham went back behind the bar and demanded money from the bartender, according to the affidavit. The bartender refused to give him the money as she walked toward him.
Aguirre picked up a barstool as the gunman began walking backward toward the back door, the video showed. Graham then shot Aguirre once in the neck and left the bar, the affidavit states.
Aguirre was taken to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Fort Worth police said.
Two witnesses told homicide detectives that they ran out of the bar during the robbery and left in their car. “They decided to turn around and drove down Trevino Street, one block south of the bar,” the affidavit states. There, the witnesses said they saw a man, who they believed to be the robber, changing his clothes near a gray sedan.
The robber was seen in the surveillance footage wearing distinctive blue and white high-top shoes, the affidavit states. He had his face covered and carried an assault rifle in a light-colored duffel bag.
Detectives began to look for video showing gray sedans in the area and saw one turning into the LaQuinta Motel, less than a mile away from the bar, shortly after the murder, according to the affidavit.
Suspect’s car towed after getting stuck near crime scene
A LaQuinta employee told detectives the same gray sedan was towed early in the morning after it ran off the road and got stuck, according to the affidavit.
Detectives went to the spot where the car was stuck and noticed a toolbox. While they were investigating the area, a witness approached and told the detectives that the driver had approached him earlier that morning, saying his car was stuck and he feared for his life. The driver also said his wife was calling a ride-share for him, according to the affidavit.
While police were speaking to the witness, Graham arrived at the spot where the car was abandoned. He acted “very nervous while speaking” to a detective, the affidavit states.
Graham refused to tell the detectives where his car — a Kia — was towed, but they were able to find the car at his apartment and saw that it had its rear license plate removed, the affidavit states.
On the front passenger floorboard inside the Kia, detectives saw the blue and white high-top shoes worn by the gunman during the crime, the affidavit states.
When detectives interviewed Graham, he denied being involved in a homicide, owning an AR-15 rifle or owning a pair of blue and white high-top shoes. When he was taken into custody, he was carrying a light-colored backpack which contained an AR-15 magazine and a bandana that appeared similar to the one worn by the gunman, according to the affidavit.
One of the suspect’s relatives told detectives that Graham owns an AR-15 rifle and a pair of blue and white high-top shoes, the affidavit states.
Based on the evidence, Graham was arrested, and he faces a charge of capital murder, police said. The 40-year-old suspect is being held in the Tarrant County Jail, with bond set at $750,000.
Graham recently had been released from the county jail on a $5,000 bond after being arrested on an unauthorized use of a vehicle charge at the end of July, according to court records.