KATY, Texas – A federal jury has convicted a Houston man in connection with the fatal shooting of a grandfather who was killed inside a Katy McDonald’s during a fight that erupted into gunfire last year, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Tyler John Jordan, 27, was found guilty of possession of a machine gun following a three-day trial.
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Prosecutors said the case stems from the March 16, 2025 shooting at the McDonald’s on North Fry Road near West Little York, when two groups confronted each other and a fight broke out in the crowded restaurant.
During the altercation, federal prosecutors said multiple rounds were fired into the lobby from a Glock pistol equipped with a machine gun conversion device, commonly known as a “switch.” One of the bullets struck and killed Jorge Arbaiza, 61, who authorities have described as an innocent bystander.
Arbaiza’s family previously said he was at the restaurant to pick up Happy Meals for his grandchildren. His wife, Teresa Arbaiza, said she was waiting in the parking lot with two of their grandchildren when she saw people running out of the restaurant, but not her husband.
“He answered and said he was dying,” she recalled at the time.
“Senseless. Multiple shots were fired while the business was full of customers, including several children,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said on X at the time of the incident.
In a Thursday press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said investigators found a video on Jordan’s phone showing him holding the weapon about five hours before it was used in the shooting. Jurors also heard testimony that Jordan attempted to lie during the investigation and had previously admitted to possessing the firearm and knowing it was a machine gun. The defense argued he did not know the gun had a switch and that his confession was false, but the jury rejected those claims.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office filed state charges against others connected to the incident, including the alleged shooter Antoine Leandre Ridge and Paul Whitley, court records show.
Ridge was charged with murder and in custody. Whitley was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and made bond, court records show.
U.S. District Judge Alfred Bennett has set sentencing for Jordan on June 25. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 fine, and he will remain in custody pending sentencing.