Man killed 2 North Texas gas station clerks over lottery tickets for new apartment: arrest affidavit

MESQUITE, Texas – Police say the man accused of murdering two North Texas convenience store clerks admitted to the killings and confessed he didn’t give them time to comply with his demands.

Davonta Mathis is charged with murder for killing 60-year-old Muhammad Hussain in Mesquite and then, just a little over a day later, 32-year-old Gopi Dasari in Dallas.

Investigators say Mathis admitted he used a stolen truck and a gun bought illegally to commit the crimes. He allegedly did it for lottery tickets to get an apartment.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Mathis did not seem to have any remorse for the murders. He also said while police were chasing him, he was going to shoot himself but could not find his gun.

According to the affidavit, Mathis admitted to shooting a clerk in the chest last Thursday at a convenience store off West Bruton Road in Mesquite before stealing lottery tickets.

Mesquite Police Sgt. Curtis Phillip says the motive appears to be straight robbery.

“It was pretty heinous in the sense that neither clerk appears to have been even given the opportunity to comply,” he said.

Mathis told police he shot Hussain “because of the way he looked,” referring to his skin color. He stated he didn’t think the clerk would have been cooperative.

Mathis told police, “He never told the clerk anything. But when he walked in, [the clerk] looked at him, so he shot him because he did not want him to run out and call the police.”

‘Again, I can’t speak for what somebody would or wouldn’t have done,” Sgt. Phillip said. “But I would assume he would’ve probably just complied and given the man whatever he wanted.”

Police say Mathis got away with stolen lottery tickets, and he was seen on surveillance cashing them out in Hillsboro, just north of Waco, where he’s from.

“It’s very hard to get into someone else’s head,” Phillip said. “We can’t really do that and know what they’re thinking or why they’re doing what they’re doing, but certainly the behavior speaks for itself.”

Mesquite police say Mathis also admitted to shooting Dasari, a clerk at a Fox Fuel in the Pleasant Grove neighborhood of Dallas on Saturday. Dasari died.

Less than an hour later, Mathis was arrested after an attempted traffic stop and pursuit in Mesquite.

Police say Mathis told detectives he bought the pistol he allegedly used “from a man off the street… for $400… He was hoping that the lottery ticket winnings would give him enough money to get an apartment.”

“What that would say is that this is someone who is just truly violent and doesn’t have a lot of remorse for what they’re doing or really any for that matter,” Sgt. Phillip said.

Mathis is charged with two counts of capital murder and is being held in the Dallas County jail on a $7.5 million bond.