A 12-year-old child and a 20-year-old man are facing murder charges for the fatal shooting of a Sonic employee in Keene, Texas.
Police said the 12-year-old used an AR-15 rifle to fatally shoot a Sonic drive-in employee during an argument with another man, who was also arrested and charged for his involvement in the shooting.
The incident occurred on Saturday night, May 13 when the Keene Police Department received multiple calls about a shooting outside the drive-through restaurant at about 10 pm. Officers arriving at the scene found 32-year-old Matthew Davis suffering from several gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital but later died from his injuries.
Twenty-year-old Angel Gomez was in the Sonic parking lot with other occupants in his car when he began displaying disruptive behavior and engaged in a dispute. Davis, who worked at Sonic, confronted him. When Davis approached, Gomez was allegedly relieving himself in the back of the parking lot. A physical confrontation ensued, and the 12-year-old suspected shooter, who was riding as a passenger in Gomez’s car and has not been named, took the AR-15 rifle from the vehicle and started shooting. Davis was hit and later died in the hospital.
Following the shooting, both the 12-year-old child and Gomez fled the parking lot. However, Gomez eventually returned to the scene and was subsequently apprehended by authorities. Keene authorities and neighboring agencies located the 12-year-old at a residence in Rio Vista, where several firearms were also found. In addition to the murder, Gomez is charged with tampering with evidence for taking the AR-15 and fleeing the scene. Authorities say that the charge may be elevated to murder. The 12-year-old suspect has been charged with murder and is currently detained at a juvenile facility in Granbury.
The victim, Davis, who had recently relocated to Keene and started working at the restaurant a couple of weeks ago, left behind a one-year-old son.