A North Texas man was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in a shooting that killed two Chick-fil-A employees and wounded another person at a Las Colinas restaurant in 2024, a case authorities said unfolded in front of the man’s wife at her workplace.
The sentence closes a high-profile prosecution that began as a frantic manhunt and ended without a trial. Police and prosecutors have described the June 26, 2024, attack as targeted and fast-moving, with gunfire inside the restaurant and customers and employees scrambling for safety. The defendant, Oved Bernardo Mendoza Argueta, entered a guilty plea in Dallas County and received a life term on the murder count and two additional 20-year sentences tied to aggravated assault charges, authorities said.
Mendoza Argueta, 38, was sentenced Thursday in Dallas County after he pleaded guilty to one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault, according to the Dallas County district attorney’s office and local reporting on the hearing. Prosecutors said the shootings happened at a Chick-fil-A near North MacArthur Boulevard and Walnut Hill Lane, in the Las Colinas area of Irving. Police responded that afternoon to reports of gunfire and found two people dead, with a third person wounded. One of those killed was identified by authorities as Patricia Portillo; the other victim’s name was not immediately released in early public updates at the time of the shooting.
Investigators said Mendoza Argueta fled after the attack, setting off a search that stretched into the night and involved multiple agencies. Within hours, police issued public warnings describing the suspect as armed and dangerous and urging people not to approach him. He was arrested early the next morning and booked into the Irving city jail, officials said. He initially faced a capital murder charge tied to the deaths of multiple people. Court records later reflected a shift in the case posture as prosecutors pursued a plea agreement that resulted in the life sentence.
Authorities have said the case carried an additional layer of trauma because the defendant’s wife worked at the Chick-fil-A where the shooting happened and witnessed the violence. In the days after the killings, investigators described her as an employee who was present when gunfire erupted. Police affidavits and reporting on the investigation have indicated that she provided information to detectives as the case unfolded and that the relationship between the defendant and his wife was part of the background investigators were trying to understand. Prosecutors did not publicly outline a detailed motive in the sentencing announcement, and authorities have not provided a full public accounting of why Mendoza Argueta walked into the restaurant and opened fire.
The June 2024 shooting happened during a busy afternoon in a commercial corridor that includes offices, apartments and restaurants. Police received calls about shots fired, and dozens of officers responded to the Chick-fil-A as employees and customers poured into the parking lot. Early reports described a heavy police presence around the building, with investigators taping off entrances and interviewing witnesses. By that evening, police were asking the public for tips as they tried to locate the suspect, and area roads were congested as officers searched nearby neighborhoods. A helicopter and patrol units canvassed the area around the restaurant, and investigators worked to build a timeline from surveillance video and witness statements.
The court resolution this month centered on a guilty plea rather than a jury verdict. Under the agreement, Mendoza Argueta admitted to the murder count and to two aggravated assault counts connected to victims who survived. The life sentence applies to the murder conviction, while the two 20-year sentences apply to the aggravated assault convictions. Prosecutors and the court did not publicly describe how the sentences will run relative to one another, but the life term ensures that Mendoza Argueta will remain in prison for decades, subject to Texas parole laws and any future court rulings. The district attorney’s office said the plea avoided a trial that would have required witnesses to relive the shooting in open court.
Public records and early reporting on the case indicated that Mendoza Argueta was also held on an immigration detainer at the time of his arrest, an administrative hold that can be placed while federal authorities review a person’s status. Police and prosecutors did not make that issue a central part of the sentencing announcement, focusing instead on the violence at the restaurant and the consequences for the victims and their families. Officials have not said whether the detainer played any role in the case’s resolution or where Mendoza Argueta will ultimately serve his sentence within the Texas prison system.
The victims’ lives, and the shock of the setting, remained at the center of community reaction as the case moved through the courts. Chick-fil-A employees and nearby workers described the restaurant as a place where people stopped for lunch, grabbed food between meetings or brought children for a quick meal. The idea that gunfire could break out inside a fast-food dining room unsettled residents in Irving and across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In early updates after the shooting, police emphasized that the attack did not appear random, but they did not provide details about who was targeted or why. That lack of clarity, coupled with the rarity of a double homicide inside a restaurant in the middle of the day, fueled public anxiety and a wave of condolences for the victims’ families.
Investigators have said the immediate chaos made the initial response challenging. Witnesses reported hearing multiple shots, seeing people duck behind counters and tables, and watching employees run for exits. Police arrived to a scene where information was still developing, with frightened witnesses trying to explain what they saw. Officers secured the building and checked for additional threats, while medics worked to help victims. Homicide detectives then took over, collecting evidence, photographing the interior and reviewing video. The restaurant closed after the shooting, and images from the scene showed police tape and a large law enforcement presence in the parking lot.
The case also highlighted how domestic tensions can spill into workplaces with deadly results, even when the victims are not family members. Investigators and court filings pointed to the defendant’s wife being present during the shooting at her job, a detail that complicated the human impact of the crime. Authorities have not described the wife as a suspect, and no charges were announced against her. Instead, officials treated her as a witness caught in an incident that ended with co-workers dead. In similar cases, prosecutors often rely on workplace witnesses, surveillance video and forensic evidence to reconstruct an attack, especially when the shooter flees. In this case, officials said the investigation moved quickly enough to identify and arrest Mendoza Argueta within hours.
In the courtroom, the guilty plea meant there was no full public airing of evidence that would typically come during a trial. Prosecutors did not present lengthy testimony about the shooting, and the court did not take a jury through a detailed timeline. Even so, the sentencing marked a key legal conclusion for the families of those killed and for survivors who were injured. Plea resolutions in murder cases often turn on certainty and finality: a guaranteed conviction and sentence in exchange for forgoing trial. Officials signaled that was the outcome here, delivering a life term while sparing witnesses from extended proceedings.
For Irving, the shooting fit into a broader conversation about public safety in everyday spaces. The city has grown rapidly, and the Las Colinas area draws commuters, tourists and residents to its restaurants and entertainment spots. Police leaders have repeatedly said they face challenges that include violent crime, mental health crises and the need for quick responses in crowded areas. In the months after the Chick-fil-A shooting, residents and workers nearby said they were more alert when entering restaurants and shopping centers, even as the neighborhood returned to routine. The closure and later status of the specific Chick-fil-A location became a visible reminder of the incident, with people associating the building with the violence that occurred there.
Dallas County prosecutors did not announce additional charges connected to the case beyond those resolved by the guilty plea. There was no public indication of other suspects. The investigation’s next steps, as the case stands now, are mainly administrative: final processing of the conviction, placement within the prison system, and potential future parole-related review under Texas law. Officials have not said whether they expect any appeal or post-conviction litigation, though guilty pleas can still be challenged under limited circumstances.
The life sentence brings a measure of legal closure, but it does not erase the lasting impact on the victims’ families, co-workers and witnesses. Two people who went to work that day did not return home, and another person was wounded in a place normally associated with routine and service. In the months since the shooting, tributes and messages of support have underscored how workplace violence can reverberate far beyond the immediate scene, affecting colleagues who must process trauma and family members who face sudden loss. The case’s end in a life term ensures Mendoza Argueta will remain incarcerated, while leaving unanswered some of the personal questions that often surround attacks that occur in public but are rooted in private relationships.
Author note: Last updated Feb. 15, 2026.