A 36-year-old Humble man was shot and killed in front of his wife and sister following an altercation that broke out after a softball game on Sunday, Harris County authorities said.
Jarmon Mattix, a father of three who worked as a CDL truck driver, was pronounced dead at the scene after the dispute moved from the ballfield into the parking lot. Harris County homicide detective Sergeant Sidney Miller said the confrontation involved two groups of people and resulted in four people being shot, with children present as witnesses.
Mattix’s sister, Destiny Williams, told KPRC that she watched the shooting happen directly in front of her and her mother. “[The shooter] shot my brother right in front of me and my mother,” she said. “My sister-in-law was on top of him, trying to give him CPR.”
Williams said their mother, Mattix’s wife and his mother-in-law were among those hurt in the shooting, though investigators have not officially confirmed the relationships between Mattix and the other injured victims. Their injuries are considered non-life-threatening. A separate man, who has not been identified, was also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators have not said what triggered the confrontation, but Mattix’s family believes race played a role. Williams said she heard the shooter and another man direct “different racial slurs” at her brother before he was killed.
“My brother was targeted and it’s just a devastating situation we’re in right now,” Williams told KPRC. “My brother … didn’t have [a criminal] record. It’s the fact … sometimes being black, it can happen like that.”
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez called the shooting “senseless” and said any racial component to the attack “will be looked into,” though investigators have not confirmed whether the shooting was racially motivated.
Williams pressed authorities to pursue the case fully regardless of the people involved. “Black. Brown. White. Blue,” she said. “It doesn’t matter. We all are people.”
Deputies have identified two suspects in the shooting. It is not yet clear whether charges have been filed against either individual.
