Mackenzie Chastang

Mackenzie Christopher Chastang was a 29-year-old White man and a father to one child. He was living in Abilene, Texas, at the time of his death in the fall of 2023.

On the morning of October 14, 2023, police in Abilene responded to a call about an injured person at an apartment complex on Buffalo Gap Road. At approximately 7 a.m., officers arrived to find Mackenzie Chastang inside an apartment with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The investigation revealed a tense and complicated situation leading up to the shooting. According to court documents, a woman who lived in the apartment, Amanda Poleski, had been in separate "on-and-off-again" relationships with both Chastang and another man, Matthew Steven Haynes. That morning, Chastang had left the apartment to allow Haynes to come over and collect his belongings. When Chastang returned, he found Haynes was still there and became upset, kicking the apartment door.

Poleski told investigators she was in her bedroom with Haynes when she heard the kicking. As she got up to let Chastang in, she said Haynes told her he was going to shoot Chastang. Once inside, Chastang asked if Haynes was still there and, upon learning he was in the bedroom, walked toward the room, stating it was time for Haynes to leave. Poleski reported hearing two gunshots within seconds. She did not hear any physical fight before the shots were fired and stated that Chastang was unarmed. Both men then came out of the bedroom, and Haynes told her that Chastang had charged at him. Chastang, in dire condition, collapsed twice before he died from his injuries.

Matthew Haynes was found near the scene and admitted to officers that he had shot Chastang. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, and his bond was set at $500,000. The case proceeded to trial in Taylor County. In March 2026, a jury found Matthew Haynes not guilty of murder.