Fort Worth man charged in July 4 shooting that killed 15-month-old and 4-year-old

FORT WORTH — A man is charged with multiple capital crimes. Shooting on July 4 that left three people dead, including two young children.

New court documents show that 27-year-old Kanard Murphy was walking to a gathering at a car wash on West Cleburne Road to see his infant daughter when a fight broke out. Witnesses told Fort Worth police that he started to put the baby in his car, but then turned around with a rifle in his 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 Murphy was not liked by some relatives of the child’s mother due to some “domestic violence issues” between Murphy and the mother of his young daughter, according to the warrant, and when he arrived at the gathering, he was confronted by a relative of the woman about the alleged past domestic violence. The witnesses told police it looked as if Murphy and the woman’s relative were going to start a fight.

Murphy was holding his 11-month-old daughter when he was attacked. After putting the child in his car, he came out with a gun. Witnesses said Murphy immediately started shooting and chasing the family member, who ran away when the shooting started. During the shooting, the 42-year-old man was shot in the leg.

According to witnesses, the family member ran toward a vehicle parked at the car wash and Murphy continued firing, hitting the rear of the vehicle where a 15-month-old and a 4-year-old child were sitting. They were both shot in the upper 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 gunman, witnesses said, after which he dropped his weapon and a bystander ran over and snatched the gun from him before Murphy could pick it up.

The man with the gunshot wound to the leg was taken to the hospital by MedStar, where he was pronounced dead.

The other victims were taken to the hospital by friends and family, where the 15-month-old and 4-year-old children later died.

Murphy was booked into the Lon Evans Correction Center on Saturday on charges of capital murder of multiple persons. His bail is set at $1,000,000.