Fort Worth man dies in hospital after ‘random shooting’ outside his workplace, police say
By Amy McDaniel and Nicole Lopez Updated June 13, 2024 3:35 PM
A Fort Worth man died in the hospital this week after he was shot in what police believe was a random attack while he walking to his car outside his workplace. Lee Douglas, 36, had been hospitalized since the shooting on May 30. He died Tuesday at John Peter Smith Hospital. A suspect, 18-year-old Decan Medeiros, of Kettle Falls, Washington, was initially arrested May 31 on four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Medeiros was booked Thursday on a murder charge after Douglas’ death, according to Fort Worth City Jail records.
“This appears to be a random shooting from a person not from Texas who was just passing through,” a Fort Worth police spokesperson said in an email Thursday. Douglas, who worked at Refresco Beverages at 15200 Trinity Blvd., was walking to his car when he was shot about 2:30 a.m. He was shot first in the back then again in the face after he fell to the ground, according to his family and an autopsy.
The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down. Police initially said they believed his injuries weren’t life threatening, but he died of complications from the gunshot wounds, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. A police report lists a second 36-year-old man as an additional victim in the case. It’s unclear whether he was also shot.
While he was walking toward his car after clocking out for a break, Douglas noticed Medeiros but assumed he might have been another employee, his family wrote on a GoFundMe page. As Douglas walked past, the gunman shot him in the back, the family said. When he fell, Douglas turned over and put his hands up, and the suspect shot him a second time in the mouth, where a bullet became lodged, the family wrote.
“Lee is a father to a total of 5 children: 3 girls and 2 boys,” the family wrote. “His oldest daughter just graduated high school and is heading off to the Navy soon. He also has a 13-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son who are in school, and a 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son.” The GoFundMe, initially started for medical expenses, is now raising donations for funeral expenses.
Douglas, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, moved to Fort Worth to find a better life for his kids, his sister Aushalay Meadows told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. A mechanic, Douglas loved to work with his hands and he was in the process of starting a business with his family. Now, his loved ones are experiencing a difficult time coping with their loss.
“We’ve got a lot of things to figure out right now,” Meadows said. The victim’s sister told the Star-Telegram that the family began investigating on their own because police have not provided them with more information. Although Fort Worth police say they are not investigating the shooting as a hate crime, Meadows and her family believe that’s what Douglas’ death reflected.
“We definitely want to get down to the bottom of it,” Meadows said. “I wanna know what the motive is. Like I just don’t understand how you just walk up to somebody and shoot them.” Meadows says police should also determine if the suspect has ties to shootings or other crimes in other states, considering investigators said he was passing through the Fort Worth area from Washington. “You just go to another state and just shoot people,” Meadows said. “That’s crazy work to do.”
Read more at:
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article289247740.html#storylink=cpy
This should be classified as a Hate Crime. Black People need an Anti-Crime Bill