Police arrested six people in Burleson on Sunday, alleging they were responsible for a shootout last Friday that left an innocent bystander dead.
The Burleson Police Department identified the suspects on Monday:
David Allen Devaney Jr., 35, of Fort Worth; David Allen Devaney Sr., 58, of Joshua; Clint Daniels Dunlap, 40, of Lake Worth; David Matthew Dever, 36, of Granbury; Gustavo Hernandez, 28, of Mission, and Francisco Adrian Mejia, 24, also from Mission.
Burleson police responded to multiple calls about a possible road-rage-related shooting around 6 p.m. last Friday. They discovered two cars with gunshot impacts, one unoccupied and one containing chemical engineer and Arlington resident Kathryn Ann Bryan, 64. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
Authorities found several spent bullet casings in the vicinity of the crime scene and a cellophane bag full of “Movie Prop Money,” per the Cleburne Times-Review.
Police were able to identify the suspects’ vehicles through witnesses and surveillance cameras.
In a press conference held Tuesday afternoon, Burleson Police Chief Billy Cordell explained that the incident was basically a “gunfight between drug dealers” trying to rob each other.
“Hernandez and Mejia had a plan to rip off the drugs from the four others by giving them counterfeit money to pay for the illegal narcotics, while the four others had a preconceived plan to rob Hernandez and Mejia of the money,” Cordell said. “So both sides of this transaction had preconceived plans to rip off the other.”
According to Burleson police, an encounter broke out between both parties, resulting in a chase traveling down Wilshire Boulevard. Police said that shots were fired at Mejia and Hernandez during the chase.
The two men abandoned their vehicle at some point and fled on foot. Reportedly, they eventually jumped into the bed of an uninvolved truck that had been stopped in traffic on Wilshire Boulevard.
Both men were later dropped off near Alsbury and I-35W, in the 800 block of North Burleson Boulevard.
Mejia and Hernandez were located by police at AutoNation Ford South Fort Worth early Saturday. Mejia had been shot in the leg and was subsequently taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
Police arrested Devaney Sr. on Saturday as he exited a hotel in the 300 block of Jake Court in Fort Worth. Devaney Jr. was found and arrested a short time later, while Dever and Dunlap were apprehended in Benbrook on Saturday evening.
The arrests and subsequent searches of the suspects’ homes reportedly yielded 10 firearms and four pounds of presumed methamphetamine.
The Burleson Police Department described Bryan as “uninvolved” in what led to the violence and offered their condolences to Bryan’s family on Facebook, writing, “It is a tragedy that she lost her life in a very aggressive and daring act of violence in the middle of a heavily-traveled roadway.”
“She’s a wife, mother to two boys, and a grandmother. She was a chemical engineer at Sachem Inc. in Cleburne,” said Chief Cordell. “Friday was like many other days in her 43-year career. After work, Bryan was going home to Arlington to be with her husband. She stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few items, and 10 minutes later, she was caught up in a gunfight between gun dealers that cost her life.”
Chuck Bryan, the victim’s husband, described her as a “humble light of love in this world.”
He added, “All of her cherished family could tell you about a favorite meal she cooked for them. Be it through the family banana cake or a rib roast Christmas feast, her cooking emanated her care for the people she loved. The world deserved a bakery from her.”
Authorities charged Devaney Jr., Devaney Sr., Dunlap, and Dever with capital murder, organized criminal activity by way of aggravated robbery, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A judge set their bonds at $2 million each.
Mejia and Hernandez were each charged with forgery as well as organized criminal activity by way of manufacturing and delivering more than 400 grams of a controlled substance, with bonds set at $250,000.
The charges stem from both the shootout and subsequent warranted searches of the suspects’ homes.
Note: This story was updated on June 30 at 9:01 p.m. to include additional information.