Texas authorities said an argument between two groups playing softball escalated into a shooting that killed a Black father of three and wounded three other adults in northeast Harris County.
But while authorities have described the shooting as the result of a dispute, the victim’s sister says people shouted racial slurs before the gunfire. Investigators have yet to determine whether racism played a role in the shooting.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says someone killed Jarmon Mattix on Oct. 18 in the parking lot of Fall Creek Sports Complex on Wyatt Shores Drive in Humble, a Houston suburb.
Deputies responding to reports of a fight and gunshots shortly after 9 p.m. found Mattix and three other people suffering from gunshot wounds.
Emergency medical personnel pronounced Mattix dead at the scene. Meanwhile, the other victims, a man and two women, went to a nearby hospital with injuries authorities described as non-life-threatening.
Mattix’s sister, Destiny Williams, said the wounded women were their mother and Mattix’s wife, though Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he could not independently confirm the victims’ relationships.
Family Awarded $5.8M After Missouri Cop Killed Mother, Newborn Baby and Allegedly Ignored Protocols
Williams said she believes her brother became a target after a confrontation involving racial slurs. Beyond the circumstances of his death, she described him as a hardworking truck driver, a husband and a father who had recently received a promotion at work.
“My brother was targeted, and it’s just a devastating situation that we’re in right now,” Williams told KPRC. She said she witnessed the confrontation and heard a man shout racial slurs before someone shot her brother.
“He was over here just yelling different racial slurs,” Williams said.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Williams said family members struggled to get information about their loved ones while authorities detained them at the scene.
“We were detained for hours,” she said. “We didn’t know anything that was going on with our family members.”
Williams said she checked her brother’s pulse and believed he still had a weak pulse. She also said Mattix’s wife tried to perform CPR before officers pulled her away.
“My sister-in-law was on top of him, trying to give him CPR,” Williams said. “They took her; they grabbed her by her arm, and they were just dragging her on the ground. This has to stop.”
Despite Williams’ account, the sheriff’s office has not publicly established that racial bias motivated the shooting. Gonzalez said Monday that the allegation had not come up during his preliminary briefing with investigators, but he said detectives would consider it as they examined the case.
Gonzalez also addressed the circumstances Williams described.
“And those aspects will be looked into. But I hadn’t heard of it,” Gonzalez said.
As investigators work to establish what happened, Williams said she wants them to thoroughly examine the case and hold anyone responsible accountable.
“Do your job. Make sure you do it to the fullest extent,” she said. “Black. Brown. White. Blue. It doesn’t matter. We all are people.”
In response to Atlanta Black Star’s request for comment, the sheriff’s office told said two groups had been playing softball when an argument broke out. The disagreement moved from the game into the parking lot, where it turned physical and ended in gunfire.
HCSO District 2 patrol deputies responded at approximately 9:24 p.m. to a weapons-disturbance call reporting a fight and shots fired at the sports complex, the agency said. Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators examined the area and interviewed witnesses.
As part of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said investigators recovered weapons at the scene and identified people suspected of involvement. The agency did not name the suspects or announce charges in the information provided.
Following the shooting, Sheriff Gonzalez offered condolences to Mattix’s family and said authorities hoped the wounded victims would recover.
“Our condolences go out to this family,” Gonzalez said. “We know this is incredibly tragic, and we’re pulling for the others to make a full recovery.”
He also urged people to resolve disputes without allowing them to turn violent, describing the shooting as a painful outcome of an evening that began with recreation.
“It’s heartbreaking when you see an evening of recreation and fellowship that ends up in violence,” Gonzalez said. “And we’ve got to do better at managing conflicts, you know, and making sure they don’t end up becoming just senseless violence.”
Williams described her brother as an involved father and a devoted family member whose death has left relatives struggling to understand what happened. She said he had recently advanced at work and was supporting his three children.
“He shot my brother right in front of me and my mother,” Williams said.
She also called Mattix an “amazing father” and an “amazing brother,” remembering him as a husband and truck driver who worked every day.
“It’s just, it’s hard. It’s going to be hard to get through,” she said.
The shooting comes as local officials continue to raise concerns about disputes ending in deadly violence. Gonzalez referenced the recent death of a 5-year-old girl in a roadway shooting while discussing the preventable nature of such incidents.
“All of this is preventable,” he said.
The investigation into Mattix’s death remains ongoing. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to contact its Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-8477.
Authorities have not announced charges, and investigators have not confirmed a motive for the shooting.
