A Houston father allegedly opened fire on Christmas morning after a frantic call, killing a stranger he mistakenly believed had kidnapped his teenage daughter.
Police say 39-year-old Jonathan Ross Mata is now facing a murder charge after a chaotic chain of events along a Houston highway feeder road ended with a young man dead.
Authorities identify the victim as 25-year-old Desmond Butler, a man with no prior connection to Mata or his family.
The fatal encounter unfolded just after midnight on Christmas Day, when Mata and his wife were jolted awake by a call from their 19-year-old daughter.
According to a criminal complaint, the teen told her parents she had been assaulted by her boyfriend and needed help immediately.
The plan shifted quickly as emotions ran high. The daughter first asked to be picked up from a cousin’s apartment, then redirected her parents to a Shell gas station where she expected to be dropped off by her boyfriend, court records reflect.
Mata and his wife arrived at the gas station and waited inside their GMC as traffic moved through the lot.
Investigators say a vehicle soon pulled in carrying a male driver and a female passenger who, in Mata’s view, resembled his daughter’s boyfriend and her.
That assumption set everything in motion. Police documents state Mata believed his daughter was inside the passing vehicle.
When the car did not stop, Mata’s wife stepped out of their GMC and ran after it on foot, a moment later backed up by surveillance video released by Houston police.
At roughly 1:05 a.m., cameras captured Butler driving his gray Honda Pilot through the gas station parking area.
His vehicle passed the black GMC Acadia parked near one of the pumps and continued toward the exit.
What happened next lasted seconds but carried fatal consequences. In a department statement, officers wrote, “At the same time, a Hispanic male exited the GMC and fired his gun at the victim’s vehicle as it exited the parking lot.”
The gunfire struck Butler as he attempted to flee. Police explained that “The victim attempted to drive north on the West Sam Houston Parkway feeder road when he was struck by gunfire and crashed his vehicle into a pole in an adjacent parking lot.”
Authorities say Mata and his wife then got back into their SUV and followed northbound on the feeder road.
After Butler’s vehicle came to rest, the couple pulled up to the crash site and opened the door of the Honda, according to Butler’s passenger.
That passenger later dialed 911. Paramedics rushed Butler to a nearby hospital, but doctors were unable to save him, police report.
Investigators stress that Mata and Butler were strangers. There was no prior dispute, no shared history, and no evidence the victim had any involvement with Mata’s daughter.
Days later, Mata turned himself in to police and was booked into the Harris County Jail, where he remains as the murder case moves forward.
The loss has devastated Butler’s family, who live out of state. His sister, Destiny Butler, told a Houston television station the grief has been overwhelming.
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“We just want answers on why him? My brother was a light of joy,” she remarked, describing a family still reeling from a death they never saw coming.
She shared that Butler relocated to Houston in 2023 to work for Amazon, eventually earning a management role.
She noted he had no special plans that Christmas Day, making the randomness of his death even harder to accept.
While the Houston case centers on a mistaken belief fueled by fear, a separate case hundreds of miles away highlights how similar errors can spiral into irreversible violence.
In Ohio, an 83-year-old man now faces the rest of his life behind bars after a jury convicted him of murdering a 61-year-old Uber driver he wrongly thought was trying to rob him.
Prosecutors say William J. Brock fell victim to a phone scam that convinced him someone was coming to collect $12,000 in supposed bond money for a relative.
The driver, Lo-Letha Toland-Hall, had been targeted by the same scammers, investigators determined.
Hall accepted what she believed was a legitimate rideshare assignment and drove to Brock’s home in March 2024 to pick up a package for delivery. Instead, authorities say, she was met with suspicion, fear, and gunfire.
Brock shot Hall six times when she arrived at his residence in South Charleston, Ohio, according to law enforcement.
The encounter was captured in part by a dashcam inside Hall’s Acura, which recorded her attempting to leave as Brock followed her with a .22 caliber revolver.
During the confrontation, Brock seized Hall’s phone, preventing her from making calls, investigators testified.
A jury later convicted Brock of murder, felonious assault, and kidnapping.
After the verdict, Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll reflected on the shared loss created by the scam-driven tragedy.
“Both families have lost loved ones because of this, and there are no winners here,” he stated, adding that the scammers responsible remain at large.
Brock told jurors he believed his life was in danger when Hall arrived. Recounting the moment on the stand, he explained, “After the first shot, she backed up a little more, and (I) don’t know what triggered it, but I shot at her shoulder.”
Following the conviction, Brock’s bond was revoked, and he was returned to custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
