HOUSTON (WKRC) – A man has been charged with murder after police say he fatally shot a stranger he mistakenly believed was his daughter’s boyfriend on Christmas morning.
Jonathan Ross Mata, 39, is accused in the death of 25-year-old Desmond Butler, who was shot shortly after 1 a.m. Dec. 25 after driving into a gas station parking lot, PEOPLE reported.
Jonathan Ross Mata (Houston Police Department)
Investigators said Butler was leaving the lot in a gray Honda Pilot when Mata fired at the vehicle, believing Butler was his daughter’s boyfriend. Police said Mata and Butler did not know each other.
PEOPLE reported that surveillance video shows Mata’s wife chasing the SUV and attempting to open a rear passenger door, mistakenly thinking their daughter was inside the vehicle, police said. Butler, who was struck by gunfire, crashed into a pole in a nearby parking lot.
Houston Fire Department paramedics took Butler to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said Mata and his wife had received a call from their daughter earlier that morning claiming she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. Investigators said the couple went to the gas station believing their daughter would be dropped off there.
Mata turned himself in to police Jan. 14 and was released on a $50,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 25.
According to court documents cited by KHOU, a female passenger in Butler’s vehicle told investigators Mata approached the SUV after the crash, apologized and said he was looking for his “kidnapped” daughter. The documents state Mata later admitted to investigators that he fired two shots at the vehicle to stop it and did not call 911 because he was afraid.
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