Man shot coworker behind Fort Worth dumpster, dragged body into woods: affidavit
As soon as Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Logan Bidding got out of his car, he smelled Thomas King’s body decomposing in the woods.
Bidding’s partner, Detective Jeffrey Jensen, walked to the fence last week and saw about 20 feet inside the tree line the body of the 31-year-old fast food restaurant employee, who had a cognitive disability.
It appeared that King, who was shot in the head, had been dragged there.
A fired 9mm cartridge case was not far from his body. The casing was the same caliber, style and brand as ammunition that was recovered from the handgun in an Arlington motel room where Gregory Lewis, a man in custody at the time on another offense, was a guest, according to an affidavit that Bidding prepared to support an arrest warrant for capital murder.
Lewis and King were coworkers at Taco Casa, a fast food restaurant near the junction of Interstate 30 and East Loop 820 in Fort Worth.
Police believe Lewis killed King intending to steal his Hyundai Sonata.
King had diminished use of his mental faculties. It was uncommon for him to not return home following the end of his shift, according to relatives who on April 14 reported that he was missing.
Police on April 15 found his car in Arlington at a Quality Inn. Thomas’ photo was shown to guests and staff. No one reported seeing him.
Video surveillance camera recordings from the Quality Inn were made available to missing persons investigators who saw King’s car parked in the back of the motel parking lot about 11 p.m. on April 13. A tall Black man is seen getting out of the driver’s seat and walking to a room in which the motel’s records showed that Lewis and his girlfriend were guests. In the video, he is the only occupant of the car and is wearing a Taco Casa jacket.
Lewis was among the motel guests who were questioned by police during the initial canvas. He denied having seen King after he was shown his photo.
Lewis’ girlfriend later provided another detective with evidence, the nature of which police redacted from the affidavit, that showed his route after he left the restaurant on April 13.
Lewis first declined the detectives’ custodial interview request.
On April 18, Lewis contacted detectives via his girlfriend to discuss the death. Lewis was again read his Miranda warning, and he agreed to speak to detectives Bidding and Jensen without an attorney present, according to the affidavit.
Lewis said received a ride from King after work on April 13 and that the two men drove to the corner of a business complex about two miles away, according to the affidavit.
Lewis confessed that he took King behind a dumpster, shot him, then dragged King’s body into the woods, according to the affidavit.
Lewis returned in King’s car to the motel in Arlington.
Lewis said that he had used the handgun that police found in his motel room to shoot King, according to the affidavit.
Lewis had previously bullied King and took advantage of his kind nature and limited mental capabilities, King’s relatives wrote in a GoFundMe post.
King was described in the GoFundMe post as “a loving father who meant everything to his children.”
“Thomas lived with a mental disability, but despite that, he showed up every single day with love, strength, and dedication for his family,” his relatives wrote. “He had a kind heart, trusted people, and did his best to provide and be present for his children.”
