The warrant for the fourth man arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Dallas businessman, Asian-American community leader and advocate Jin Shin has revealed more details on what happened the night of Shin’s death.
Shin was surrounded, accosted and assaulted by multiple people before he was shot by Markynn West, according to Fort Worth police. West was the first of the suspects to be arrested. This all happened after a minor traffic accident in August in which Shin’s Jeep rolled forward at a stoplight on University Drive and hit the rear of another vehicle, according to police.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit for Keeton Sheppard, the fourth person to be arrested, he lied to investigators, telling them he did not punch Shin, didn’t see him get punched and left the scene before Shin was shot. Police said in the warrant that Sheppard’s statement contradicted video evidence of the shooting and the events leading up to it.
Sheppard is accused in the warrant of punching Shin in the face after Quamon White, the third man arrested, punched Shin from behind. Before punching him, West and Sheppard were both in Shin’s face, the affidavit says.
According to police, Sheppard attempted to pursued Shin as he tried to leave the area and circle around to the passenger side of his Jeep. Around that time, the warrant identifies Kameron Taylor as the man who took Shin’s keys from the Jeep, preventing him from leaving the area as the scene grew more hostile. Taylor was the second person to be arrested in the case.
Police said video evidence showed Sheppard was also present at the time Shin was shot by West. Police described Sheppard as “a primary aggressor” in the warrant for his arrest.
Events leading up to the shooting
Police said in arrest warrants that Shin was involved in a vehicle accident around 2:20 a.m. Aug. 15, 2022, when his Jeep rolled forward and hit the rear of a silver Hyundai Elantra at 2500 University Drive. Shin got out of his vehicle, as did the three women in the Hyundai. They started talking and Shin was boxed in at the door to his Jeep.
According to three of the four warrants:
Over the next 15 minutes, five more people arrived at the scene in three different vehicles, surrounding Shin and alternating between pinning him against his Jeep and blocking him from accessing the vehicle, according to the warrants. At that point, West and Sheppard got in Shin’s face while another person blocked him from getting back to his vehicle. White was standing directly behind Shin when he drew back his right arm and punched Shin in the back of the head. Sheppard then punched Shin on the left side of his head.
Shin retreated after being punched and Sheppard tried to pursue him but was held back by West. Shin then tried to get back to the driver’s side of his Jeep. He was then approached by a man who got in his face and “denied him the ability to retreat into his vehicle after being attacked by the group,” according to the warrant. Shin then headed to the passenger side of the Jeep and opened the door as two other men were leaning into the vehicle from the driver’s side. Taylor took the keys from the vehicle as Shin retrieved a gun and then was again surrounded. Taylor had the keys on a lanyard around his neck when police arrived at the scene.
Shin managed to walk away from the now-eight people surrounding him with his gun in his hands, according to video referenced in the warrant. Immediately after he retreated, West walked to the Chrysler 300 and got a handgun out of the trunk.
Shin walked across the street, then started walking back, this time approaching his Jeep from the driver’s side, according to the warrants. The handgun Shin held was pointed at the ground as he approached the rear of the Jeep, where West stepped into view with a handgun, also initially pointed at the ground. West fired multiple shots and Shin again attempted to retreat around to the passenger side.
West also moved to the passenger side, heading around the rear of the vehicles, according to the warrants. As West came around the vehicles, police said, he raised his gun and aimed at Shin, firing multiple shots again. Shin ran across the street to the median and out of the view of the cameras, where police and paramedics found his body.
Shin, 43, was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner’s office ruled his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the torso. Shin owned Family Karaoke in Dallas.