Jarvis Davis was just 19 years old when a small argument turned into something no family should ever have to face. On the evening of Jan. 28, inside an apartment complex on the 9500 block of Jeremiah Drive in Fort Worth, what started as words over a box of french fries ended with a single gunshot.
Fort Worth police say they were called to the complex around 6:30 p.m. that Wednesday. When officers arrived, they found Davis slumped on a couch with a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics rushed him to a nearby hospital. Hours later, he was gone.
Authorities arrested 18-year-old Lemarques Darden and charged him with murder. Investigators say Darden and Davis were friends and neighbors who lived in the same complex. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the two got into a verbal dispute. Witnesses told police they heard a loud noise, then saw Davis on the couch and Darden running away with a handgun.
Detectives with the Gun Violence Unit said the argument escalated when Davis refused to share his french fries. It was a simple, everyday disagreement. But in a matter of seconds, it became deadly.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Davis’ death a homicide caused by the gunshot wound. Police later tracked Darden to Tyler, Texas. Nearly two weeks after the shooting, officers arrested him there and brought him back into custody.
Davis’ mother called the killing “senseless.” She said her son lost his life over something so small it is hard to even comprehend. Friends and family are now left holding memories instead of conversations, mourning a young man whose life ended far too soon.
Authorities have stressed that the shooting was an isolated incident and that there is no ongoing threat to the public. A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help Davis’ family with time away from work and counseling as they try to process a tragedy that started with something as ordinary as a shared meal.
