The shooting happened Sept. 1, 2023 in the West 7th district in Fort Worth, officials say.
FORT WORTH, Texas — The man accused of shooting and killing a TCU student in Fort Worth’s West 7th district in 2023 pleaded guilty and was sentenced Thursday.
Matthew Purdy, 23, pleaded guilty to murder in a court hearing Thursday in connection with the 2023 shooting of TCU junior Wes Smith and was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder charge.
Purdy fatally shot Smith as he stood on the sidewalk in the West 7th district early Sept. 1, 2023, officials said. Police at the time called it a random act of violence with no clear motive.
Smith’s parents spoke during the hearing.
Our content partners at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram report Purdy’s trial was previously scheduled for July and his attorneys had filed documents that indicated they intended to use an insanity defense.
According to an affidavit obtained by WFAA shortly after the shooting, an officer in the area responded to the scene in the 3000 block of Bledsoe Street after hearing shots near the “Your Mom’s House” bar. Smith was reportedly taken to a hospital and died shortly thereafter.
Police found Purdy walking in a nearby parking lot using a helicopter and arrested him, officials said at the time.
Purdy admitted to shooting Smith three times, according to the affidavit — once in the stomach area, once in the shoulder, and once in the head after he’d fallen to the ground.
“Matthew [Purdy] stated he shot him in the head because he wanted to make sure he was dead,” the affidavit stated.
Purdy told police he shot Smith after asking him if he knew his father, who was assaulted in the West 7th area in the past, according to the affidavit.
Purdy had been on probation in an aggravated robbery case in Tarrant County, according to the affidavit.