Fort Worth man charged in July 4th shooting that killed 15-month-old, 4-year-old
FORT WORTH — A man faces multiple capital murder charges in a shooting that left three people dead, including two young children on the Fourth of July.
New court documents show 27-year-old Kanard Murphy went to a gathering at a car wash along West Cleburne Road to see his infant daughter when a fight broke out. Witnesses told Fort Worth Police he was putting the baby in his car, but he turned back with a rifle in hand and opened fire.
A 15-month-old girl and a 4-year-old girl were caught in the crossfire and died. A 42-year-old man was also killed.
Witnesses said that due to some "domestic violence issues" between Murphy and the mother of his infant daughter, the warrant states, some relatives of the child's mother do not like Murphy, and when he arrived at the gathering he was confronted by one of the woman's relatives about the alleged prior domestic violence. The witnesses told police it looked like Murphy and the woman's relative would fistfight.
Murphy had been holding his 11-month-old daughter when confronted and after putting the child in his car he emerged with a gun. Witnesses said Murphy immediately began shooting and chasing the family member who ran away when the shooting started. During the shooting, the 42-year-old man was struck in the leg.
The family member ran toward a vehicle parked at the car wash, according to the witnesses, and Murphy continued to fire, striking the back of the vehicle, where a 15-month-old and 4-year-old were sitting. They were both shot in the torso. A third, older child was also sitting in the back of the vehicle. She was shot in the hand.
Murphy was then shot in the upper back by an unknown shooter, the witnesses said, causing him to drop his gun and a bystander ran over and grabbed the gun before Murphy could pick it up.
The man shot in the leg was taken to the hospital by MedStar, where he was declared dead.
The other victims were taken to the hospital by friends and family where the 15-month-old and 4-year-old later died.
Murphy was booked into the Lon Evans Correction Center on Saturday for "capital murder of multiple persons." His bond is listed at $1,000,000.