On the evening of November 30, 2023, 36-year-old Jesse Mattos was fatally shot outside the HatTrick Indoor Sports Bar in the 200 block of North Main Street in Temple, Texas. Emergency responders arrived around 10:17 p.m., and Mattos was pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m.

Temple Police identified two suspects in the days after the shooting: 18-year-old Justin Hix, wanted on a murder charge, and 24-year-old Ricardo Salazar, wanted on aggravated assault charges. Both were described as armed and dangerous; Hix surrendered to authorities on December 1, 2023, and Salazar turned himself in on December 2, 2023. A Bell County Grand Jury later returned indictments charging Hix with murder and charging Salazar with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the incident.

Family and friends remembered Mattos as loving and caring, with a passion for fishing and nature; his mother Coffie Gushea-Larson called him a beautiful soul, and his significant other Rebecca Conlin described him as a rock in people’s lives. Does anyone who knew Jesse or was in the area that night have information that could help clarify what happened?