A tenant who shot and killed a Fort Worth apartment complex employee was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to a murder charge, court records show.
Devin Smith, 30, was sentenced to 31 years in prison.
Smith was arrested April 21, 2023, in the shooting death of 30-year-old Carlos Aybar, a maintenance worker at The Marq on West 7th in the 700 block of Arch Adams Lane.
When officers responded to the apartment complex’s office, they found Aybar dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Detectives determined Smith, a resident of the complex, had gone to the office because of paperwork left on his door and someone in the office contacted Aybar because they were afraid of how Smith was acting, police said at the time.
Aybar was attempting to get Smith to leave the office when the shooting occurred.
Smith returned to his apartment where officers arrested him.
Attorneys representing Aybar’s family previously told The Dallas Morning News they spoke with residents who said Smith harassed them at the apartment complex and his dog had bit a security guard at a nearby location.
One of the attorneys, James Trujillo, said he believed the paperwork Smith was in the office complaining about was a quarantine notice for Smith to take his dog to animal control.
A GoFundMe page for Aybar’s family said he “left behind a beautiful 4-year-old son, a loving mother and extended family.”
The page, which raised more than $29,000 called the shooting “a heinous, senseless act of violence” and said Aybar “died a hero protecting his coworker.”
