An arrest affidavit says an argument that began during a night out continued at home before the 41-year-old father was fatally shot.
FORT WORTH, Texas — A 24-year-old man is charged with murder in the shooting death of his father after an argument that authorities say began during a night out at area bars and continued at a Fort Worth home early Saturday.
Johnathan Hernandez was detained after officers responded about 3:36 a.m. Sept. 26 to a shooting call in the 8300 block of North Riverside Drive. Police found 41-year-old Nicacio Hernandez III at the scene, where he was pronounced dead. An arrest affidavit later identified the two men as father and son and described a series of confrontations leading up to the shooting. Johnathan Hernandez was being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a $500,000 bond, according to local news reports.
The affidavit says Johnathan Hernandez met his father and mother Sept. 25 at a BoomerJack’s restaurant in Lake Worth. They later went to Tumbleweeds Sports Bar in Fort Worth, where Johnathan Hernandez became involved in a verbal disagreement with one of his father’s friends. Investigators said he became angry when his father sided with the friend during the dispute. The affidavit describes that disagreement as the start of a conflict that continued after the family returned home.
Johnathan Hernandez told investigators that he and his father argued about the earlier confrontation and that he punched his father several times because he believed his father was about to strike him, according to the affidavit. Hernandez told police his father then pulled a knife from his belt, causing him to flee. He also said he heard a gunshot as he left and believed his father had fired toward him. Those statements are Hernandez’s account to investigators and have not been established as findings in court.
According to the affidavit, Hernandez then got a ride to his apartment, retrieved a rifle-style firearm from his vehicle and returned to his father’s residence. Hernandez told investigators that when he returned, he found his father in the garage and heard him threaten people at the home. Hernandez said he believed relatives were in danger before he shot his father multiple times, the affidavit says.
Investigators interviewed family members who were at the residence. According to the affidavit, those relatives told police they did not believe Nicacio Hernandez posed an immediate threat to them. Their accounts also differed from Johnathan Hernandez’s description of parts of the confrontation. The competing accounts are among the details investigators documented as they sought to establish what happened before the fatal shooting.
Fort Worth police Public Information Officer Tracy Carter told FOX 4 that investigators learned Hernandez had spoken with his girlfriend before returning to the residence with the firearm. Carter said Hernandez told his girlfriend that he was going to do something to his father and that she then called the residence. The affidavit and police account provide investigators’ description of the case at the arrest stage and do not constitute a finding of guilt.
When officers arrived, Hernandez was still at the property and surrendered with his hands raised, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Police initially said the two men knew each other and described the shooting as an isolated incident. The arrest affidavit released later provided the father-son relationship and additional allegations about the events that preceded the shooting.
Hernandez faces a murder charge in connection with his father’s death. The charge is an allegation, and no conviction has been reported. Authorities have not publicly announced additional charges in the case, and the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting remains ongoing.
Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.