A Texas father is accused of gunning down an Amazon delivery driver, mistaking him for his daughter’s boyfriend.
Jonathan Ross Mata, 39, is accused of murder after fatally shooting Desmond Butler, 25, at around 1am on Christmas day, per the Houston Police Department.
The department released shocking surveillance footage that captured the moments leading up to and during the shooting.
Butler was driving his gray Honda Pilot through a gas station in Bellaire when he passed Mata’s black GMC Acadia at the pumps.
As Butler drove past, Mata’s wife got out of the SUV, chased his Honda, and tried to open the car door.
She believed her daughter was inside, and at the same time, Mata got out and fired shots at Butler’s car, the police said.
Butler then tried to drive away but crashed into a pole. The husband and wife left the scene, according to the department.

Desmond Butler, 25, was gunned down after a Texas father allegedly thought he was his daughter’s boyfriend

+7
View gallery
Mata’s wife got out of the SUV, chased his Honda, and tried to open the car door, per the police

+7
View gallery
Butler’s gray Honda driving out of the gas station after shots were fired
Houston Fire Department paramedics rushed Butler to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
According to investigators, Mata and his wife went to the gas station after receiving a call from their daughter saying she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, believing she had been dropped off there.
There was a woman in Butler’s passenger seat, and the couple initially believed it was their daughter, according to the HPD.
Police said that, upon further investigation, the victim and the shooter did not know each other.
Court documents showed that Butler’s female passenger testified and said Mata drove up to the Honda after he crashed into the pole, KHOU 11 reported.
Mata allegedly opened the vehicle’s door, looked inside, said he was searching for his ‘kidnapped’ daughter, apologized, and said he would call the police, according to the outlet.
The shooter confessed that he fired two shots to stop the Honda but didn’t realize he had struck Butler, according to court documents obtained by KHOU 11.

+7
View gallery
Butler in his high school graduation portrait, he had just moved from their home in Georgia to Houston in 2023 to work for Amazon, becoming a manager

+7
View gallery
Butler and his family, they are devastated over his tragic death

+7
View gallery
Surveillance footage of the shooting unfolding, allegedly Mata’s wife exiting the car, per the police

+7
View gallery
More surveillance footage of the shooting incident, upon further investigation, the victim and the shooter did not know each other
Mata added that he didn’t call 911 because he was ‘scared,’ per the outlet.
Butler’s family spoke out about his death, saying they are ‘devasted’ and that he was a ‘light of joy.’
The 25-year-old had moved from their home in Georgia to Houston in 2023 to work for Amazon, becoming a manager.
‘We’re keeping each other tight and close and keeping his memories alive,’ his sister Destiny told the outlet.
Mata turned himself in on Wednesday and was booked into the Harris County Jail. He has been released on $50,000 bond, per the outlet.
News
BREAKING: Authorities have just released a haunting 1-minute security clip showing the final known moments of James Gracey in Spain — police claim it was an accident, but viewers are spotting disturbing details that don’t quite add up…
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Police have concluded that the death of a 20-year-old University of Alabama student on holiday in Spain was an accident, citing footage showing him falling into the ocean the night he went missing. According to the newspaper El País, security camera footage from the early morning hours Tuesday showed James Paul […]
While the case goes cold, Nancy Guthrie is under fire — spotted making repeated gym runs in a sleek convertible instead of showing up on the front lines… raising serious questions about what’s really happening behind the scenes.
The garrulous Arizona sheriff who has failed to find Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother has been spending more days pumping iron at the gym than at his desk, The Post can exclusively reveal. Chris Nanos — the embattled chief lawman of Pima County leading the hunt for 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie — was spotted at his office […]
4 Weeks Later — FBI Drops Bombshell About the Masked Figure on Nancy Guthrie’s Doorbell Cam… And What They Revealed Changes EVERYTHING.
The masked man who is suspected in Nancy Guthrie’s abduction may have approached her Tucson property before the morning she was snatched from her home, according to reports. Sources close to the investigation told ABC News and NewsNation that they believe the masked intruder, featured in home surveillance video released by the FBI, went to […]
Avalanche Horror Deepens: Authorities Investigate Guides as Identities of 6 Mothers Revealed — Bodies Still on the Mountain
Five people who died in the Feb. 17 avalanche were recovered on Feb. 20, while the remaining four were recovered on Feb. 21 The final victims of the deadly California avalanche have been identified. In a news release confirming that the bodies of all nine victims who died in the avalanche in the Castle Peak […]
BREAKING: Criminal Probe Launched in California Avalanche Tragedy — 6 Victims Identified as Mothers, Mountain Still Sealed Off
Five people who died in the Feb. 17 avalanche were recovered on Feb. 20, while the remaining four were recovered on Feb. 21 The final victims of the deadly California avalanche have been identified. In a news release confirming that the bodies of all nine victims who died in the avalanche in the Castle Peak […]
🚨 BREAKING: Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s Family Speaks Out After Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s Arrest — “No One Is Above the Law… Not Even Royalty.”
Police said they ‘arrested a man in his sixties’ Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of the UK’s King Charles III, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, according to reports. The police force did not name Mountbatten-Windsor, as is normal under U.K. law. But when asked if he had been arrested, the force […]
End of content
No more pages to load










