Suspect arrested in shooting that killed 1, injured 2 at La Gran Plaza: Fort Worth police
A 19-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the Oct. 12 shooting at La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth that killed one person and injured two more, officials said.
Xavier Evans was booked into the Fort Worth City Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 13. He faces a murder charge, according to police records.
According to Evans’ arrest warrant affidavit, a fight took place after a football game at Herman Clark Stadium the night of Oct. 11. Fort Worth’s Dunbar High School played Benbrook High that night at the stadium. A person involved in the fight then went to Club LV at La Gran Plaza shopping mall, the warrants states.
When he exited the nightclub, that person got in another fight with some of the same people he’d fought with at the football game, police said. A mall security guard used mace to disperse the fight, according to the affidavit.
The individual involved in the fight was with a large group of people at the rear of the parking lot. Around 2:15 a.m., someone got out of a black Dodge Durango and fired multiple shots into the crowd, the affidavit states.
Police believe a person involved in the fight was the intended target, but another man was critically injured in the shooting and died at a local hospital. The victim has been identified as 41-year-old Diago Franchez Jones.
In an online obituary, Jones’ family wrote that he “was a man whose spirit was as warm and powerful as the Texas sun.” Jones was a member of Salem Missionary Baptist Church, a graduate of Dunbar High School, an avid Dallas Cowboys fan and a dedicated father of two, according to the obituary.
Jones leaves behind “a community that will feel his absence deeply, especially on the Eastside where his presence was always felt,” the obituary says.
Two other people were injured in the shooting, according to police.
Detectives identified the suspect vehicle connected with the shooting and obtained surveillance video that showed the driver and a female passenger inside a store. Investigators were able to identify the driver by comparing his image in the video with police reports and social media accounts, the affidavit states.
Information on the suspect car and the driver was passed along to the Fort Worth police Operations and Surveillance team. They learned that the individual in question was now driving a green Alfa Romero, according to the affidavit.
Police conducted a traffic stop on the Romero and arrested three people, including Evans, on unrelated charges. One of them told detectives that he had driven the black Dodge Durango the night of the shooting, the affidavit states.
The driver said he was involved in the fight at the Club LV, and he’d driven around afterward and picked up several people. He told police that one of his passengers got out of the vehicle and fired shots, according to the affidavit.
Evans told investigators he was at Club LV but left in a black truck. He said he was outside when the fight happened, the affidavit states. He denied having Facebook and Instagram accounts, but a detective found a Facebook profile of Evans, which showed the 19-year-old with firearms.
A second interview was done with the driver of the Dodge Durango. He acknowledged to police that someone named “Chopper” was sitting in the back seat, and he got out and started shooting. When investigators showed him a photo of Evans, he identified him as “Chopper,” the affidavit states.
Surveillance video from the area of La Gran Plaza shows someone matching Evans’ description coming from the area of the fight and getting into the suspect vehicle. The Durango can be seen moving through the parking lot.
At 2:13 a.m., 10 flashes, or gunshots, can be seen coming from the outside of the Durango. The shots were coming from the area closest to the back left seat where Evans had been sitting, the affidavit states.
As of Thursday, Nov. 14, Evans was in the Tarrant County Jail with bond set at $250,000.
This story was originally published November 14, 2024 at 4:56 PM.
