The victim was a beloved JROTC instructor for North Crowley High School before he was killed in 2024.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering his own father, Tarrant County court records show.

According to WFAA’s partners at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29-year-old Xavier Bass pleaded guilty to murder Thursday in court.

The victim, 54-year-old Gene Bass, was shot and killed in June 2024 in the 4400 block of Chesapeake Bay Drive in Fort Worth, police said. Fort Worth police said officers found the victim dead in a front yard with apparent gunshot wounds to his upper body. He was later identified as a Crowley ISD JROTC instructor. 



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According to the affidavit, several witnesses told investigators that shortly after the victim arrived at his home, a bald, Black male pulled up in a Ford Mustang holding a small, black handgun. Xavier Bass was throwing the gun up in the air and catching it, the affidavit said.

The victim approached his son and said, “Boy, stop playing with that gun before you shoot someone,” according to witness testimony included in the affidavit. Shortly after, the suspect began firing, the affidavit stated. 

Xavier Bass was listed as one of Gene Bass’ emergency contacts and detectives identified a black Mustang matching the description of the suspect on Xavier Bass’ Facebook profile, according to the affidavit. 

Police later spoke with a redacted individual who stated Xavier Bass lived in Georgia. She stated that Xavier Bass told her “he needed to drive to Texas and that she would find out why when she saw it on the news,” according to the affidavit. 

She also stated she was present when Xavier Bass called the victim, his father, on the phone to tell him he was coming to Texas. On a separate occasion, Xavier Bass told her that he felt his dad could have done more for him as a child “and not left him with his mom to struggle,” according to the affidavit. 

The day before the shooting occurred, Xavier Bass told the redacted individual that he was going to check himself into a mental hospital and the following day did not answer his phone. After the shooting, other family members attempted to contact Xavier Bass with no success. Upon seeing surveillance images, she confirmed the man captured on video was Xavier Bass, the affidavit said.