Desmond McKay, 19, of Arlington, Texas, was fatally shot on the night of June 2, 2025, after an encounter in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 2700 block of Castle Gardens Drive. McKay had spent the evening with an acquaintance from welding school; the two had gone to the complex to pick up a third friend. Police say McKay stepped out of his 2016 Chrysler 200 while the acquaintance tried to drive away, then ran back and struggled at the driver’s door when multiple shots were fired. Officers found McKay unresponsive with several gunshot wounds; he was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead.

The shooter fled in McKay’s car, which was recovered the next morning in Dallas across from the acquaintance’s home. Detectives canvassed witnesses and used surveillance and the recovered vehicle to trace the path of flight. On June 29 investigators say 24-year-old Jahlen Owen walked into the Ott Cribbs Public Safety Center, waived his rights, confessed with details matching evidence, and was arrested on a charge of capital murder; no motive has been released. McKay’s family announced funeral arrangements in Fort Worth.

Did anyone in the Arlington welding-school community or the Castle Gardens area see McKay or his Chrysler 200 that night?