PLAINVIEW, Texas — A former employee with the Plainview Formby and Wheeler State Jail, 29-year-old Matthew Davis, suffered a painful injury back on August 28, 2022 after he was shot in the eye with a pellet gun while driving home one night.

A year later, he said things haven’t gotten much better, but he’s holding out hope.

According to a police report from the Plainview Police Department at the time, officers responded to an eye injury in the 1700 block of Quincy Street just before 12:30 a.m.

Davis and his wife Teresa were talking and sometime after he left, Teresa told her mother that something had happened to Davis. According to Teresa, Davis had spent most of the day there. The family told police they did not hear anything like a firework or gunshot after he left.

Teresa recalled the events of the night and Davis calling her saying, “I can’t, I can’t see.” She asked him where he was at, and he was unable to say for certain but thought he was near her mom’s house. Teresa heard people on the other line asking Davis “are you okay,” so she told him to have one of them call 911 while she made her way to him.

According to Teresa, when she arrived, Davis had blood coming out of his eyes.

When an officer arrived, Davis told him that he was driving, turning right on 18th and Quincy, when he heard a bang and saw a flash of light. He appeared disoriented, the police report said, so the officer told Davis to sit on the curb until EMS arrived to take him to Plainview Medical Center.

According to doctors at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Davis had bullet fragments in his left eye. His right eye was split open from the top to the center.

A witness who helped Matthew move his truck out of the road that night said he thought that Matthew might have been shot with a bb gun. He then said his father-in-law saw kids running inside a house in the 1700 block of Quincy.

According to the police report, a detective spoke with the suspected juveniles who admitted to striking Davis with a pellet gun. The report also said that one of the juveniles gave his godmother the gun to hide on September 1, 2022. Officers obtained a search warrant to get the weapon and took it in for evidence.

After further investigation, Plainview PD received written and verbal statements from the two juveniles that they were shooting the pellet gun that struck Davis. Neither would accept blame, the police report said.

The case was later cleared through Plainview PD and filed with attorney Jim Tyree who told EverythingLubbock.com he could not discuss a juvenile case.

A year later

EverythingLubbock.com also spoke with Davis on Friday who said that coming upon the year anniversary of the incident has made him emotional the past few days.

“I don’t want to face it but I have to,” said Davis. After the incident, Davis was forced to resign from his job at the Formby/Wheeler Unit because he was limited on what he could do.

He also said that his vision is deteriorating as he is blind in his right eye, and he is in the process of trying to get a surgery done to have the metal fragment, still in his eye, removed.

The former state jail employee started his own construction business called Davis Renovations, with a buddy of his. However, Davis plays more of a supervision role and still does not get to work.

“It’s been really affecting me, my mental health,” said Davis, stressing that PTSD and anxiety are real. “I’ve gotten real broken down these last few nights.”

Davis did, however, stress that Teresa had been there for him every single step of the way since the incident.

Davis said his life will never be the same and believes that those responsible are not being held accountable.

“They don’t want to jeopardize [their] future but look [they] took away half my life,” Davis said.

Davis has been leaning heavily on his church family and just wants his story to reach the hearts of those who might be willing to help him.