FORT WORTH

OCTOBER 18, 2016 8:57 PM

Man arrested in robbery, fatal shooting of teen riding home on bike

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BY DEANNA BOYD
dboyd@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH A 37-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in connection with the broad daylight robbery and fatal shooting two weeks ago of an
18-year-old Joshua man targeted while riding his bike.
James E. Murphy was arrested on a capital murder warrant Tuesday, accused in the slaying of Chaz Gilley.
He was being held in the Manseld Jail on Tuesday night with bail set at $300,000 in the capital murder case and $100,000 on an unrelated
aggravated robbery case stemming from an Oct. 14 game room robbery.
Homicide Sgt. Joe Loughman said investigators believe Gilley was randomly targeted Oct. 7 after the suspect spotted him at the Wal-Mart off
East Berry Street. Gilleys mother, Chesala Sanderson, said her son went to the First Convenience Bank inside the Wal-Mart that day to open an
account so that he could cash his rst paycheck.
Sanderson said her son was riding home on East Berry Street when he was struck by a black car an occupant of which then shot the teen
multiple times.
Loughman declined to say whether the suspect got away with any of Gilleys property before eeing.
A passerby picked up Gilley, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his torso and extremities, and drove him to an area re station, where an
ambulance was summoned. He was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital where he died from his injuries almost 24 hours after the shooting while
in the operating room.
Relatives have said Gilley attended Manseld Lake Ridge High School and had only recently moved to the East Berry Street area to live with his
mother and begin working at Goodwill in Fort Worth.
Sanderson said Tuesdays arrest was bittersweet.
I was praying for this, Sanderson said. I want these people off the streets so they cant take the lives of someone elses family members. They
havent destroyed us. Theyve made us stronger, but our family will never be the same without my son.
The sad thing is their family is going to be torn up over this too, she added. Its so senseless.

My son is dead
Sanderson said that since her sons death, she nds herself constantly looking for black cars that might have damage from striking her son.

I see the killers everywhere. I told my husband I have to get away from here. We have to move, Sanderson said. I cannot bear to go to the
grocery story. I cannot bear to come down the street. Everywhere I look I see my baby just riding down the street and theyre shooting him.
She said she felt torn Tuesday between wanting prosecutors to seek the ultimate punishment of death in the case and not wanting vengeance
because I am a Christian and vengeance is not mine to get.
Maybe life in prison without the chance of parole would be sufcient enough, Sanderson said. The mother in me that lost her son is torn
because my son doesnt get to live. My son doesnt get to watch TV when he wants, to have family visit. My son is dead. He will never grow up.
He will never reach the age of 37. Its hard to not want them to pay the ultimate price.
She said Murphys age, 37, makes it harder to wrap her head around the situation.
Thats not a child. If it was kids, it might make a little more sense because they wouldnt know any better ... this was a grown man, she said.

Prior record
Tarrant County court records show that Murphy has previous convictions dating to 1996 for criminal trespassing, aggravated robbery, burglary,
assault and theft.
He was charged in 2007 with capital murder in the December 2007 fatal shooting and robbery of O.D. Wyatt freshman Kelvin Collier. but the
case was dismissed more than a year later at the request of prosecutors, court records show.
Collier, 16, was shot repeatedly after answering a knock at the door of his familys southeast Fort Worth apartment.
Murphy and a second man, Wesley Eugene Davis, were arrested within days of the slaying.
The boys mother told police she had heard a scufe after her son opened the door and recognized Daviss voice saying, Wheres it at? Go get
the money before ve shots rang out. The mother jumped through a window to escape, then played dead after being shot in the thigh.
Colliers sister told police that Murphy, whom she identied in a photo line-up as the second gunman, had come into her bedroom, pointed a
black handgun at her and asked her where the money was. She told investigators she discovered her brother fatally injured and asking for help
after the man walked out of her room and she heard the front door slam.
Case records show the capital murder charges were dismissed in February 2009 against both Murphy and Davis. The records do not list a reason
for the dismissal beyond prosecutor discretion.
Samantha Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorneys ofce, said Tuesday, The prosecutor did not feel that there was
sufcient evidence to proceed in that case.
Deanna Boyd: 817-390-7655, @deannaboyd

Balloon release and vigil for Chaz Gilley

Family and friends gathered for a vigil in Manseld for Chas Gilley, 18, who died Saturday after being shot.
jlmarshall@star-telegram.com

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