Police have arrested a man for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend and her sister in a Texas A&M Commerce dorm on Monday.

Jacques Dshawn Smith, 21, was arrested Tuesday at his Rowlett home. He faces capital murder charges for killing 19-year-old Deja Matts and 20-year-old Abbaney Matts.

Jacques Smith (Hunt County Detention Center)

The sisters were found dead inside the Pride Rock Residence Hall on the Texas A&M Commerce campus Monday morning. The discovery prompted a lockdown that lasted several hours.

University police released a 911 call from the student who reported shots had been fired in the dorm.

“So it looks like something was shot through the wall and hit my calendar and the wall is all broken apart,” the 911 caller said.


Police said they were able to identify Smith through surveillance video and witness tips.

He was recently released from jail after Garland police arrested him last week. Police said he attacked Abbaney, who was his ex-girlfriend, striking her and allegedly threatening her with a knife.

Hours after the murders and before the announce of his arrest, Smith expressed his apparent disbelief over what happened on his Facebook page.

“This is what some cowards, they did. They left my daughter without her big sisters, she doesn't have any big sisters to look up to, she doesn't have anybody,” said Deja and Abbaney’s father, Timonthy Matts.

The victims’ father said the family drove Deja home from Texas A&M Commerce last weekend to celebrate her brother's birthday. Abbaney drove Deja back Sunday.

Sisters Deja (left) and Abbaney Matts (right) were killed in Monday's shooting at Texas A&M Commerce. Deja was a student and Abbaney would visit often, according to family. Abbaney’s son was also shot in the leg but survived.

“They took her back Sunday night and it was too late for her to come back this way so she spent the night down there, and this happened -- both of my daughters,” Matts said.

The third shooting victim who survived is Abbaney’s 2-year-old son. He was treated at the hospital and is now being cared for by the family.

The Matts’ said they don't have many details on the status of the investigation but shared Deja was studying public health and hoped to become a nurse. Abbaney didn’t attend the university but wanted to work in the medical field, inspired by their mother who works in dentistry.

“Athletic, smart, straight-A students,” Matts said.

The family remembered the sisters as sharing a close bond both with big goals.

“I don't think Deja would've had it another way, to leave here with her sister,” Matts said.

Smith has a criminal record that includes three additional arrests since 2017. He was arrested for aggravated assault in Mesquite and for evading arrest in Duncanville and Grand Prairie.

He has been transferred to the Hunt County jail where he is being held on a $1 million bond.