A shocking incident unfolded inside a Shell gas station in Texas, where a man and his wife were accused of shooting at a man, whom they mistook for their daughter’s kidnapper. On the morning of Christmas 2025, 25-year-old Desmond Butler pulled into a Shell gas station in Houston, Texas, when the tragedy occurred. He drove his gray Honda Pilot car and had a juvenile female passenger in the rear seat.
Meanwhile, frantic parents Jonathan Ross Mata and his wife were waiting for their daughter as they parked their GMC Acadia at the pump. They had just received a call from their 19-year-old daughter, who claimed to have been assaulted by her boyfriend. She was now being dropped off by her abusive beau at the Shell gas station itself, and her parents were supposed to pick her up.
When Butler’s car crossed that of Jonathan inside the gas station, that’s when the misunderstanding occurred. According to preliminary reports by the Houston Police, the 39-year-old father mistook the Black Amazon manager for the abusive guy who had assaulted their daughter. In fact, the presence of a minor female passenger at the back of the car made them believe all the more in the assertion that it was indeed their daughter.
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
At the moment when Desmond Butler crossed Ross Mata’s car, it was the latter’s wife who jumped out of their vehicle and chased the former’s vehicle on foot. She was able to reach the back door. Meanwhile, the worried father approached the driving seat of Butler’s car and just opened fire from point-blank range at the driver. His firearm discharged two rounds of bullets in an effort to stop the car.
After being hit by the bullets, Butler tried to drive out of the gas station as fast as he could, and so he drove north. He was aiming to move towards a feeder road, which then connected to the West Sam Houston Parkway. Unfortunately, Desmond lost control of his car and ended up crashing into a nearby pole in the parking lot.
Jonathan Ross Mata and his wife drove to see the crash site. They were shocked to open the passenger door of the crashed car and realize that it was neither their daughter nor her abusive boyfriend that they had just shot. The complaint filed against the couple makes note of the moment of discovery as “(The defendant) looked inside the vehicle and said something to the effect of, ‘Oh, we were looking for our kidnapped daughter, I’m sorry, we will call 911,’ and then drove away.”
Sadly, Ross Mata and his wife never really called for paramedics, and Desmond Butler was left to bleed out from his serious wounds. They just fled from the crime scene. Later on Christmas morning, the 25-year-old victim was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Three weeks after the shooting, the couple brought a lawyer to the police station for their defense after they fled the crime scene. Their defense attorney claimed that the entire accident stemmed from a case of mistaken identity.
A Houston father mistakes an innocent man for daughter’s kidnapper. Murders him.
The victim was 25-year-old Desmond Butler.
Johnathan Mata has now been charged with murder. pic.twitter.com/88bHzqggQz
— Robbie Harvey (@therobbieharvey) January 16, 2026
Evidently, Mata was charged with murder even though his actions were driven by confusion over mistaken identity. He was let out on a $50,000 bond. Meanwhile, the deceased Desmond Butler’s grieving family is still awaiting closure and answers over the loss of an innocent life. A Georgia native, the victim moved to Houston in 2023 after landing a job at Amazon. He worked very hard to scale up to the position of a manager in the company.
Butler’s sister, Destiny, spoke with local station KHOU 11 on the murder of her brother. In her words, “We just want answers on why him. My brother was a light of joy. We’re keeping each other tight and close and keeping his memories alive.”
