A Fort Worth man was accused of murder in shooting of an ‘angry’ man. A jury disagreed
An ex-Fort Worth Water Department surveyor who shot and killed an “angry” homeless man near a church in 2018 was found not guilty of murder Friday by a Tarrant County jury.
Daniel Hammack, 64, of Fort Worth fatally shot 36-year-old Jason Knight of Fort Worth on March 11, 2018.
The shooting occurred as Hammack’s wife and mother stood nearby, according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2018.
Hammack, who records shows lives about a block from where the shooting occurred, was arrested soon afterward while sitting on a curb near Knight’s body.
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Hammack in 2018, and city officials fired him after that.
“The ultimate issue was whether Dan Hammack acted in self-defense when he fired off the three shots that killed Jason Knight,” said Phillip Hall of Fort Worth, one of Hammack’s attorneys, in an email on Saturday. “On March 11, 2018, Dan was locking up the church with his 80-year-old mother and wife when he was confronted by a very aggravated person, who was seen in the community on many previous occasions acting aggressively.
“The man threatened to kill Dan and his wife, and Dan attempted to stop him with a mattock handle first,” Hall said. “Despite Dan’s best efforts to stop him, he kept coming at Dan, forcing Dan to resort to the gun in his pocket. The jury found that Dan acted in self-defense of himself, mother, and wife, and found Dan not guilty in a little over an hour and a half.”
A representative of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.
The 2018 fatal shooting was the second one involving Hammack. On May 3, 1992, Hammack shot and killed Ray Anthony Kelley. Hammack told Fort Worth police that he was inside his house, heard noises in the back yard and saw a person trying to get inside his utility shed. Hammack stated he got his shotgun and fired three shots as the person jumped over the fence, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.
Hammack was not charged in the 1992 shooting.
Fort Worth police officers have answered 38 calls in nine years to Hammack’s Fort Worth home, which is near the location of the 2018 shooting, according to city records.
Of those calls from Hammack’s home on the Near East Side, 27 were disturbances or suspicious persons or vehicles in the neighborhood, according to the records obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“The District Attorney‘s office pursued this case because Dan has previously shot and killed an individual (a documented gang member who was out on parole) back in the 90s, who was breaking into Hammack’s home in Glenwood Triangle,” Hall said. “Despite no arrest or charges against Dan for this incident, prosecutors believed this was not coincidence that he shot and killed another man in March of 2018.”
The arrest warrant in the 2018 incident gave this account:
On the afternoon of March 11, 2018, Hammack, his wife and his mother, Angelyn Hammack, had just locked the doors to Gospel Tabernacle Church in the 1500 block of Stella Street where Angelyn Hammack is a secretary.
They were walking to Angelyn Hammack’s car when Daniel Hammack said, “That’s him,” pointing out Knight, who was walking on the other side of the street.
Angelyn Hammack told police Knight turned and walked toward Daniel Hammack and his wife in an aggressive manner “looking angry and grimacing.” Knight had something, but she did not know what it was.
Witnesses who were driving by told police they saw Hammack and Knight talking. Hammack had a large stick in his left hand, and Knight kept his right hand in his pocket. Knight was making gestures with his hands, but not in a threatening manner, according to the warrant.
Angelyn Hammack noted that her son told Knight to “get back.”
At some point, Hammack swung the stick at Knight. Witnesses could not tell police what happened to cause Hammack to swing. The warrant does not note Knight as having a weapon.
This story was originally published July 23, 2022 at 12:12 PM.
