Chin “Jin” Shin was considered a pillar of the Dallas Asian community. Wednesday, a man was arrested in his killing. NBC 5 is learning more about the moments leading up to Shin’s death which started with a minor traffic accident. Meredith Yeomans reports.
He was considered a pilar of the Dallas Asian community.
Fort Worth police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of Chin “Jin” Shin, who was known to many as a pillar of the Dallas Asian community.
Shin was a father and owned Encore Family Karaoke where he met countless friends like Conrad Alagaban.
“His spirit is to help and to have fun, to have a good time and enjoy the people that he's with,” said Alagaban.
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He says Shin may have been dropping someone off in the early morning hours of August 15 when he bumped his Jeep into the back of a Hyundai Elantra in the 2500 block of University Drive in Fort Worth.
Police say video of the incident shows three women get out of the car before three more vehicles pull up.
“It was a fender bender that went wrong, horribly wrong,” said Alagaban.
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An arrest warrant affidavit says one of the men from the vehicles, "punched Chin in the back of the head" and that his keys were taken.
It says Shin opened his passenger door then walked away "with something in his hands … from the 8 individuals that had deprived him of access to his Jeep." When Shin returned, he was "holding a handgun … pointed at the ground."
“Just knowing him, it’s to protect himself. He didn't use it on anybody,” said Alagaban.
By then, police say the suspect Markynn West, 28, had pulled out a handgun from the car he was in.
He started firing, according to the affidavit, striking Shin who ran but was found nearby.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office said Shin died from gunshot wounds to the torso.
“It’s horrible to think about that he went through it by himself,” said Alagaban.
Alagaban says no one should ever lose their life over a fender bender.
He wants Shin to be remembered for how he lived, not how he died.
“Pass the goodness forward. Pass the kind acts forward,” said Alagaban.
West was arrested Wednesday on a murder charge. He’s since bonded out of jail.
