Man accused of murdering 2 North Texas gas station clerks
DALLAS - Police say a Waco man is responsible for two convenience store clerks’ murders in North Texas.
Police arrested 21-year-old Davonta Mathis for allegedly robbing and murdering a gas station clerk in Pleasant Grove over the weekend and another gas station clerk’s murder in Mesquite on June 20.
Davonta Mathis (Dallas PD)
The robbery in Pleasant Grove happened around early Saturday morning at the Fox gas station on Lake June Road.
Dallas police say Mathis walked in, approached the counter and shot 32-year-old Gopi Krishna Dasari. He stole items before running away.
Gopi Krishna Dasari
Dasari was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died.
Mathis was originally arrested and charged with robbery. That charge was upgraded to capital murder because of Dasari’s death.
Family and friends said Dasari was a hardworking man who had recently moved to the United States from India. He leaves behind a wife and a young child.
Dasari’s murder is the second in as many days of a convenience store clerk working the night shift.
Gas station clerk shot during Pleasant Grove robbery, police say
Dallas police say an unknown suspect entered the business, shot the victim and took items.
Another murder robbery happened at the Family Stop Food Store in the 1700 block of Bruton Road in Mesquite on June 20 just before midnight.
Mohammad Hussain, a 60-year-old Carrollton resident, was a store employee working the night shift.
In both incidents, the suspect fired multiple times as he entered the business and then took items from the stores.
Surveillance cameras gave police a good view of the car Mathis was in. That description was put out to all Mesquite patrol officers.
An alert officer spotted the car Mathis was in Saturday morning 20 minutes after the murder robbery at the Dallas store.
"An officer observed the vehicle, got behind it and attempted to stop it," explained Mesquite Police Sgt. Curtis Phillip. "Vehicle pursuit ensued, which led to a foot pursuit, and a suspect was taken into custody."
Mathis was connected to the Dallas murder by items in the vehicle he was driving.
"It's sad that someone would choose this path in life," Phillip said. "But unfortunately, the only person that could have changed that was him."
Mathis’ bond is set at $7.5 million.
Police continue to look to see if there could be other robberies or other types of crimes tied to Mathis.