A father in Houston, Texas, shot and killed a Black man over a misunderstanding. Jonathan Ross Mata thought the Amazon manager was his daughter’s kidnapper, so he chased his moving vehicle and shot at him.
The deceased, identified as 25-year-old Desmond Butler, was leaving the gas station parking lot when the father thought he was, as we mentioned before, the one who kidnapped his 19-year-old daughter. The incident occurred on Christmas Day. The father was under stress as his daughter had called him and his wife, telling them her boyfriend had attacked her.
According to Law & Crime, the daughter asked her parents to pick her up from her cousin’s apartment. The parents came to the Shell gas station on Bellaire Boulevard, believing that was the pick-up spot. They thought her boyfriend would drop her there.
Texas dad fatally shoots innocent Amazon manager after mistaking him for daughter’s kidnapper https://t.co/sSGlJbJ4Y6 pic.twitter.com/EqFU41QbRE
— New York Post (@nypost) January 16, 2026
The charging document reads, “Defendant stated that a vehicle pulled into the gas station, occupied by a Black male driver who looked just like [his daughter’s] boyfriend and a female passenger.” He thought his daughter was also in the vehicle. That’s when the mother chased after the car on foot.
The same can be seen in the parking lot surveillance video. Butler was driving his gray Honda Pilot, chased by the woman around 1:05 a.m. Mata pulled out a gun, chased the car and fired shots at it. Butler tried to move away but ended up crashing into a pole in another parking lot opposite the gas station.
A Texas father allegedly shot and killed an Amazon manager after mistaking him for his daughter’s kidnapper on Christmas morning. Jonathan Ross Mata, 39, opened fire on a fleeing SUV outside a Houston gas station, killing 25-year-old Desmond Butler. Mata believed his daughter—who… pic.twitter.com/7PUT0Oe698
— streetaddictz.net (@streetaddictz) January 16, 2026
Butler died at the hospital, and Mata has been arrested on a murder charge. After the car crash, Mata and his wife went to Butler’s car to find their daughter, but saw she wasn’t there. Mata told the co-passenger of Butler that he would call 911, but he never did.
They drove away from the scene and went to the police on Jan. 12 to explain the misunderstanding. He explained he was scared, so he did not call 911. He surrendered on Jan. 14 and posted bail of $50,000. He will appear in court on Feb. 25.
Butler’s family is grieving and is devastated by the sudden loss in this tragic incident. His sister, Destiny, revealed he had moved to Houston for work and did not have any Christmas plans. She called her brother a light of joy.
