Man charged in fatal shooting after leaving DFW Airport was using drugs, report says
The 18-year-old man who, while on a layover at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, is accused of fatally shooting a Fort Worth man outside of a warehouse on May 30 was seen acting strangely at the Chattanooga Airport before he flew into DFW, according to airport police.
Decan Medeiros, of Kettle Falls, Washington, was arrested in the killing of 36-year-old Lee Douglas, who was gunned down outside the Refresco Beverages plant at 15200 Trinity Blvd. in far east Fort Worth as he was walking to his car while on a break from work.
A Fort Worth police arrest warrant affidavit says Medeiros tried to enter the building before he began shooting. Medeiros also fired at two of Douglas’ co-workers and an employee at a nearby warehouse, none of whom were injured, authorities said.
Mederios has been in custody since he was first arrested near the shooting scene on four counts of aggravated assault in the shooting. A murder charge was added after Douglas died in the hospital on June 11.
Upon his arrest, police said they found two boxes of ammunition in a bag Medeiros was carrying at the time of the shooting. The bullets in the bag matched the type used in the shooting.
His father, Ricky Medeiros, told the Star-Telegram he was completely perplexed by his son’s arrest.
“I think it’s weird as hell, to be honest,” said Ricky Medeiros. “The kid is gonna randomly get off a [expletive] plane, find a gun and then go execute somebody?”
Ricky and another family member of Medeiros, Rachel Benjamin, told DFW Airport police that while Decan had never been medically diagnosed, he suffered from depression.
Benjamin contacted DFW Airport on June 2, stating she had not heard from Medeiros. She said he had flown to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to work with his father due to his “acting up” at home, the report from DFW police says.
He was using drugs such as marijuana, acid, and hallucinogens before his trip, Benjamin told police.
She last spoke to Medeiros on May 29, the day he was supposed to return home and fly into Spokane, Washington.
An American Airlines employee confirmed to police that Medeiros boarded his flight from Chattanooga to DFW, but never boarded his connecting flight to Spokane.
Medeiros left Tennessee angry at his father, according to the report. After his father told him he could stay with him to work or go back to his home in Washington, Medeiros chose to go back, the report says.
The 18-year-old had been acting weird and made concerning Facebook posts, including one that read, “it’s hard,” according to his father. Ricky Medeiros insisted his son was not suicidal.
The suspect could have left DFW Airport because of his behavior, his father told police.
Chattanooga Airport police had approached Medieros on May 28 after receiving a suspicious persons call regarding a man who was running around shirtless and was startling women, according to the report. The officers reported his behavior to be “off,” as he was excessively sweating and incoherent when spoken to, the report says.
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Officers at the Chattanooga airport had to contact Medeiros’ father to book another flight for him after he missed his first flight to DFW on May 29.
His father told the Star-Telegram that Medeiros is not a “killer,” but the family of Douglas, who was Black, is asking Fort Worth police to investigate the shooting as a hate crime. The family believes race was a factor.
“We definitely want to get down to the bottom of it,” Douglas’ sister Aushalay Meadows told the Star-Telegram in an interview. “I wanna know what the motive is. Like I just don’t understand how you just walk up to somebody and shoot them.”
Medeiros remains in custody at the Lon Evans Corrections Center, part of the Tarrant County jail system, with bail set at $615,000.
