New details have been released about the man accused of killing two sisters in a North Texas college dorm.
New details have been released about the man accused of killing two sisters in a North Texas college dorm.
Jacques Smith is now charged in connection with a murder on New Year’s Eve in Denton, more than a month before the shooting at Texas A&M Commerce on Monday.
The victims' father, Timothy Matts, said he was grappling with the question: What if someone had been able to keep Smith behind bars?
Matts said Smith had a tendency for violence, and there are arrest warrants to prove it. An affidavit from Garland police shows that Smith assaulted Matts' daughter, Abbaney Matts, and posted bond.
That was just days before Abbaney and her sister Deja Matts were found shot to death at a residence hall at Texas A&M Commerce.
Police said Smith was the shooter.
“You hit somebody on the head with a frying pan and throw the TV here at this house. Do that and they let him out of jail, and then he gets out and goes down here and kills my two girls,” Timothy Matts said. “He shouldn’t have been out.”
As if the double murder of his daughters wasn’t enough, Denton police now say Smith was involved in a murder they've been investigating since New Year's Eve, more than a month prior to Monday's shooting.
Denton police were investigating at an apartment when they got a call that it was connected to Smith and the murders at Texas A&M Commerce.
“We obtained information that the Rangers were seeking information about that same residence in connection with a double capital murder that happened at Texas A&M Commerce,” Denton police Chief Frank Dixon said.
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Dixon said it was the collaboration between the community and police that helped investigators track Smith.
“Just by skill, good luck and grace of God these two cases intersected at the right time,” he said.
Matts said he wanted to see justice for his daughters.
“They were like twins,” he said. “You can tell by the pictures. Every picture we got, they’re together.”
He said he will miss them both; one who wanted to be a nurse, and the other a young mother.
“I’m walking through it. I know it’s going to be a long process, but that’s why we got family around,” he said.
Smith was taken into custody by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and transported to the Hunt County Jail.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help with costs for the sisters' funerals.
