Police say a man and woman returned to Myst Hookah + Ultra Lounge minutes after being removed and opened fire, killing two men.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — San Antonio pair charged with capital murder after police said they returned to a Northwest Side hookah lounge in a car early Feb. 18 and opened fire on patrons outside, killing Derek Dashaun Brown, 27, and Kyung Lee, 50.
The case drew swift attention in San Antonio because investigators said the shooting followed an argument inside a busy late-night lounge and unfolded within minutes of the suspects being escorted out. Police arrested Joseph Anthony Amador, 34, and Lauren Tayler Machado-Juarez, 35, two days later. Court records cited by local media showed both were booked on capital murder charges tied to the deaths of two people in one episode, turning a brief disturbance into a high-stakes homicide prosecution.
Police said officers were called at about 1:24 a.m. Feb. 18 to Myst Hookah + Ultra Lounge in the 4500 block of North Loop 1604 West, near Northwest Military Highway and the Shavano Park area. When officers arrived, they found two men dead from gunshot wounds outside the business. Investigators said the violence began shortly before that when Amador and Machado-Juarez got into an altercation inside the lounge and were removed by security. According to an arrest affidavit described by KSAT, surveillance video then captured the pair getting into a gold Ford Fusion. The affidavit said the car left, the occupants switched seats, and the vehicle circled back toward the patio with the passenger side facing the lounge. Witnesses told police a burst of gunfire followed. One witness recalled hearing shots and then seeing “two bodies down,” a phrase that quickly came to define the horror of the scene.
Arrest records described a short but deliberate sequence. Investigators said the car returned roughly five minutes after the pair were kicked out, and witnesses estimated about 20 shots were fired toward people seated outside. Police alleged Amador was the gunman after the seat switch and Machado-Juarez drove the Fusion back past the patio. The affidavit said detectives matched visible damage on the vehicle in surveillance footage to the Fusion they later found. Officers stopped the car two days after the shooting and detained both suspects. Local reports said investigators also recovered a handgun from the vehicle and obtained a search warrant for an apartment linked to Amador, where multiple firearms were found. Both suspects, according to the affidavit, admitted they had been at the lounge and had occupied the Fusion that night. Police have not publicly described any relationship between the victims and the suspects, and available reporting indicates Brown and Lee were not involved in the earlier disturbance inside the club.
Brown and Lee were identified over the next two days as families, friends and local media began piecing together who they were beyond the case file. Brown, who some friends said was born in Panama and later made San Antonio his home, was remembered by loved ones as upbeat and social. A fundraiser created after his death described him as a brother, son and friend whose humor and steady presence helped people through hard days. Lee, who relatives said also went by “KC” or “Jimmy,” was remembered as a husband, father and Army veteran who served for years, much of that time in Korea. A separate fundraiser said he left behind a wife and two children. The venue, meanwhile, said it would close for the remainder of that week out of respect for those affected. In a public statement, the business said the shooting did not happen inside the lounge itself but in the shared shopping center parking lot, and it said extra security measures would follow.
The setting added to the shock. Myst Hookah + Ultra Lounge sits in The Ridge Shopping Center on the far Northwest Side, an area known more for restaurants, retail and late-night social traffic than headline homicide cases. Early reports described a crowd still gathered outside when the shots were fired, with people scrambling for cover as the car moved past. The patio area appears to have been the focal point of the attack, suggesting the shooters did not fire randomly into the wider plaza but toward a concentrated group of people outside the business. Even so, the two men killed were not identified in public reporting as combatants in the dispute that led to the suspects’ removal. That gap matters because it points to one of the central questions still hanging over the case: whether Brown and Lee were specifically targeted or were struck as bystanders during retaliatory gunfire. Police have not publicly answered that question, and no public affidavit excerpts released so far describe a personal connection between either victim and the suspects.
Under Texas law, the allegation that two people were killed in the same criminal episode can support a capital murder charge. That is the charge police said both defendants now face. Local court reporting said each was assigned a $750,000 bond, though prosecutors had not publicly laid out a full theory of motive beyond the altercation that started inside the lounge. At the time of their arrests, police also said both suspects had outstanding warrants on unrelated matters. The homicide investigation was credited to several San Antonio Police Department units, including homicide detectives and specialized support teams that helped identify and locate the suspects within about 48 hours. What remains to come are the procedural steps common in a case of this size: prosecutors must continue reviewing evidence, defense lawyers will test the affidavit and any video evidence, and a grand jury process or later court filings will shape what facts become public. As of now, no public reporting has described an indictment date, trial setting or plea in either case.
For many people who were there, the shooting seems to have unfolded faster than they could process it. Witnesses described a normal late-night club scene breaking apart in seconds once the car reappeared. A friend honoring Brown at a memorial described him as “the life of the party,” someone known for energy and easy conversation. Relatives of Lee used similar language, saying he knew everybody and wanted everyone around him to have a good time. Those personal memories stood in painful contrast to the bare wording of police reports, which reduced the event to timestamps, shell casings, vehicle movement and body locations. In between those two versions of the story lies the lasting impact of the shooting: two men dead outside a place where they had gone to spend the night, a business suddenly tied to a double killing, and a criminal case that now carries the most serious level of homicide charge in Texas short of a death penalty filing. For investigators, the remaining task is to turn surveillance images, witness accounts, ballistic work and seized weapons into a courtroom narrative that can withstand scrutiny.
As of March 18, 2026, Amador and Machado-Juarez remained publicly identified as defendants in the case, and police had not announced additional arrests. The next milestone is likely a new court filing or hearing in Bexar County that could clarify the prosecution timeline and release more details about motive and evidence.