Yesterday, a 20-year-old Fort Worth man admitted in court to two separate killings, including one that happened while he was already out on bond in an earlier homicide case. Prosecutors say Daemon Ponce accepted plea deals that give him concurrent prison terms, so both sentences will be served at the same time instead of one after the other.
Plea and sentence details
Court filings show that Ponce pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and received 25-year sentences in each case, with the judge ordering the terms to run concurrently, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. District clerk records cited by the paper indicate he will be eligible for parole after serving 12 years and six months.
Where he’s being held
County booking records list Ponce as being held at the Tarrant County Belknap facility while his cases move through court, according to the Tarrant County inmate search. The online entry shows his CID number and confirms he remains in custody at Belknap.
How police say the second killing unfolded
According to investigators, Ponce had already been charged in the March 2022 killing of John Reyes and was out on bond while that case was pending. The Tarrant County supervision agency reported that he cut off a court-ordered GPS ankle monitor on Aug. 1, 2024, which triggered a bond-violation warrant, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Detectives later connected Ponce to a drive-by shooting on Oct. 12, 2024, at MR Customs in the 1800 block of NE 33rd Street. The gunfire killed 19-year-old Jamarein Pevy and wounded another man. Nine days after the shooting, officers arrested a co-defendant who has since been indicted, according to the same reporting.
Legal context
Because the two 25-year sentences are running concurrently, Ponce faces a single effective prison term of 25 years rather than 50. Based on the clerk records described in the local reporting, he will be allowed to seek parole after serving roughly half of that effective term.
The co-defendant’s case is still pending, and prosecutors have not released additional details. Ponce’s court-appointed attorney declined to comment, according to the reporting.
