(FORT WORTH, Texas) — A man was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Thursday for murdering a Texas college student in a random shooting in 2023.
Wes Smith, a 21-year-old junior at Texas Christian University, was shot multiple times outside a Fort Worth bar in September 2023, prosecutors said.
Matthew Purdy, 23, pleaded guilty to his murder during a hearing in Tarrant County on Thursday. A judge then sentenced him to 60 years, under the terms of a plea agreement.
Smith’s parents addressed the court during Thursday’s hearing.
“Your actions caused catastrophic, monumental mourning by thousands of people,” his father, Philip Smith, said while addressing the defendant, saying he believed Purdy has a “dark and ugly soul, if you have any soul at all.”
He remembered his son as a “beautiful human being” who had a great laugh and quick wit.
“He was a true leader of people,” Philip Smith said. “He was a gifted athlete. He was an honor student. He was a loved son. He was a cherished brother.”
His mother, Dorree Smith, remembered him as a “competitor to the core in a way that encouraged and brought out the best in everyone.”
“He thought being a mentor was so important, along with putting others before yourself and serving others however needed,” she said. “He wasn’t perfect, but he was striving for growth, building a foundation and leaving warmth and laughter in his wake.”
She said her son’s last evening was spent doing the two things he loved most — football and mentoring young athletes, while helping coach middle school students — before heading to a bar to meet up with friends.
He was helping women find safe rides home when he was shot, she said.
Addressing Purdy directly, she said, “You didn’t know Wes. You never met him. But in that moment, you made a devastating, evil choice. You decided you mattered more than he did. And you took Wes’ earthly life. And now Wes’ loss is not just a personal loss but a communal wound.”
The shooting occurred in Fort Worth’s West 7th entertainment district shortly after 1 a.m. local time on Sept. 1, 2023.
An officer patrolling the district heard gunshots and found Smith suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the affidavit. Smith was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
The gunman hit another TCU student who was fleeing the scene in the back of the head with the gun, causing a laceration, according to the affidavit.
Purdy was arrested two blocks from the bar and admitted to shooting Smith three times for no discernible reason, according to the affidavit. He told police he didn’t shoot the other TCU student “because he ran out of bullets,” prosecutors said.
After being read his rights, Purdy agreed to provide a statement, in which he “admitted to approaching Wes, who he didn’t know and shooting him three times” in the stomach, shoulder and back of the head after he fell, the affidavit stated.
“Matthew could not provide a clear reason as to why he shot Wes,” the affidavit stated, noting that Purdy asked the victim if he knew his father, who was assaulted in the past in the area, before shooting him.
Purdy also pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated assault for pistol-whipping the other TCU student and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a police interview, he said he didn’t shoot her because he ran out of bullets.
He was additionally sentenced on eight other felony charges, for a total of 206 years in prison. The sentences will run concurrently, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office said.
His trial had been scheduled to start in July. ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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