A man who lived for his grandchildren died after his final attempt to please them put him in a deadly crossfire.
Jorge Arbaiza, 61, was shot to death Saturday inside a McDonald’s in Katy, Texas.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a post on X that “two groups of possible teenagers were involved in a disturbance that resulted in gunfire.”
Arbaiza had gone into the restaurant to pick up Happy Meals for his grandchildren as his wife of almost 40 years waited in the car with them, according to KHOU-TV.
Teresa Arbaiza said she heard gunshots after seeing a man with a gun in the rearview mirror of the car.
As others fled the restaurant, her husband was not among them. She used her phone to find out if he was OK and heard his final words.
“‘I’m dying, I’m going to die,’” was all he could say after being shot five times in a crossfire.
“I couldn’t leave the kids alone — I could not go inside — the kids were crying, and they were scared,” she said in Spanish. Arbaiza was flown to a nearby hospital, but doctors could not save him.
“I’m dying,” recalls Teresa Arbaiza after speaking to her husband.
The sheriff’s office said Jorge was caught inbetween two groups at the McDonald’s on West Little York.
Teresa called her husband after seeing everyone running out.
He answered. Their last talk @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/CvmgsyjBn6
— Rilwan Balogun (@KPRC2Rilwan) March 17, 2025
“He was crazy for his grandkids,” she said.
“All I want is justice,” Zoila Garcia, Arbaiza’s sister-in-law said, according to the New York Post. “So they can grab them and they can pay for what they did. It’s so unjust.”
“Our family has been devastated and changed forever. Jorge Rolando Arbaiza was an exceptional husband, father, brother, and grandfather,” the family said in a GoFundMe appeal.
If convicted, should Ridge face up to life in prison?
“There are no words that can do our father justice, and anyone that had the pleasure of meeting him understands why. He was larger than life, devoted everything to his family, and always made sure that his loved ones had everything they needed,” the post said.
BREAKING: Antoine Ridge has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Jorge Arbaiza. The victim was caught in the crossfire of a shootout inside a Katy McDonald’s where he’d stopped to get Happy Meals for his grandkids.@SheriffEd_HCSO @JMilesKHOU https://t.co/Qj06pazXaH pic.twitter.com/oSaNsIK7W9
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) March 20, 2025
Police have since arrested Antoine Ridge, 24, who is charged with murder, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said, according to KHOU.
Police are still searching for others involved in the incident.
Ridge has a pending warrant for an aggravated assault charge in which he is accused of displaying a firearm during a dispute with someone he was dating, according to KPRC-TV.
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