Casepin
Back to cases

Case file

Kentucky Fried Chicken murders

SOLVED1983Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, Kilgore, Texas3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Main Street in Kilgore, Texas (United States). — location anchor for the case
Main Street in Kilgore, Texas (United States). — location anchor for the case — Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0

On the evening of September 23, 1983, armed robbers held up a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas, shortly before closing. Five people present—three restaurant employees and two friends of one employee who were waiting there—were abducted and taken to a nearby field on County Road 232. Each was executed with a shot to the back of the head and additional shots to the torso. One victim, Opie Hughes, was found a short distance from the others and had been raped. The victims' bodies were discovered by a local resident and identified as David Maxwell (20), Joey Johnson (20), Monty Landers (19), Mary Tyler (37), and Opie Hughes (39).

The case went unsolved for 22 years despite several arrests. A torn fingernail found on one of the bodies led investigators to arrest and charge James Earl Mankins Jr., a man with prior drug convictions and the son of a state representative. DNA analysis later determined the fingernail did not belong to Mankins, and he was released after pre-trial proceedings had begun.

In November 2005, cousins Darnell Hartsfield, 44, and Romeo Pinkerton, 47, were arrested and charged with capital murder. Both men were already incarcerated for other crimes at the time; Hartsfield was serving a life sentence for aggravated perjury connected to this case. Investigators stated that DNA evidence indicated a third, then-unidentified perpetrator had also taken part in the murders and had committed the rape of Hughes.

Pinkerton's death penalty trial was set to begin October 15, 2007, at the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, following jury selection that ran from August 6 to September 27, 2007. On October 29, 2007, Pinkerton pleaded guilty to five lesser counts of murder as part of a plea deal and was sentenced to five concurrent life sentences. He is serving his sentence at the James V. Allred Unit in Wichita Falls.

In 2008, Hartsfield was convicted at trial in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas—on a change of venue from East Texas due to pre-trial publicity—and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences. The Texas Sixth Court of Appeals upheld his conviction on February 4, 2010. Hartsfield died on May 4, 2022, at age 61, following a massive hemorrhagic stroke suffered in his jail cell at the French M. Robertson Unit in Abilene; his next parole hearing had been scheduled for January 2023.

In 2023, the Texas Rangers reopened the case regarding the unidentified third perpetrator. In May 2025, DNA evidence found on a victim's clothing identified three brothers in East Texas, and in November 2025 a man named Devan Riggs, who died in 2010, was positively identified as the source of that DNA evidence.

Key facts

Victims
Mary Tyler, Joey Johnson, David Maxwell, Monty Landers, Opie Hughes
Date
1983
Location
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, Kilgore, Texas
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1983-09-23

    Armed robbers hold up a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas; five people are abducted, taken to a nearby field, and executed.

  2. 2005-11

    Cousins Darnell Hartsfield and Romeo Pinkerton, already imprisoned for other crimes, are arrested and charged with capital murder.

  3. 2007-08-06

    Jury selection begins in Romeo Pinkerton's death penalty trial in New Boston.

  4. 2007-09-27

    Jury selection in Pinkerton's trial is completed.

  5. 2007-10-29

    Romeo Pinkerton pleads guilty to five lesser counts of murder and is sentenced to five concurrent life sentences.

  6. 2008

    Darnell Hartsfield is convicted at trial in Bryan, Brazos County, Texas, and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences.

  7. 2010-02-04

    The Texas Sixth Court of Appeals upholds Hartsfield's conviction.

  8. 2022-02

    The murders are featured in the 'Friday Night Ghosts' episode of Cold Case Files.

  9. 2022-05-04

    Darnell Hartsfield dies at age 61 after a hemorrhagic stroke in his jail cell at the French M. Robertson Unit in Abilene.

  10. 2023

    The Texas Rangers reopen the case regarding the unidentified third perpetrator.

  11. 2025-05

    DNA evidence found on a victim's clothing identifies three brothers in East Texas.

  12. 2025-11

    Devan Riggs, who died in 2010, is positively identified as the source of the DNA evidence.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Mary Tyler

    VICTIM

    37-year-old friend of an employee, present at the restaurant and killed in the robbery-murders.

  • Joey Johnson

    VICTIM

    20-year-old restaurant employee killed in the September 23, 1983 robbery-murders.

  • David Maxwell

    VICTIM

    20-year-old restaurant employee killed in the September 23, 1983 robbery-murders.

  • Darnell Hartsfield

    CONVICTED

    Arrested in November 2005 and charged with capital murder; convicted at trial in 2008 and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences; died in custody in 2022.

  • Monty Landers

    VICTIM

    19-year-old restaurant employee killed in the September 23, 1983 robbery-murders.

  • Devan Riggs

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Deceased individual (died 2010) identified in November 2025 as the source of DNA evidence linked to a third perpetrator; not formally charged.

  • Opie Hughes

    VICTIM

    39-year-old friend of an employee; killed in the robbery-murders and found raped a short distance from the other victims.

  • James Earl Mankins Jr.

    CHARGED

    Arrested and charged based on a torn fingernail found on a victim's body; released after DNA analysis excluded him as the source of the fingernail.

  • Romeo Pinkerton

    CONVICTED

    Arrested in November 2005 and charged with capital murder; pleaded guilty in 2007 to five lesser counts of murder and was sentenced to five concurrent life sentences.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • Main Street in Kilgore, Texas (United States). — location anchor for the case

    archival location

    Main Street in Kilgore, Texas (United States). — location anchor for the case

    Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Places

Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, Kilgore, Texas

32.3835, -94.8752

View on the map

Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Five people were abducted and executed during an armed robbery of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas, on September 23, 1983. The case remained unsolved for 22 years until two men were charged in 2005 and later convicted.
Where did the murders happen?
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, Kilgore, Texas.
Who was convicted?
Darnell Hartsfield (Arrested in November 2005 and charged with capital murder; convicted at trial in 2008 and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences; died in custody in 2022.) and Romeo Pinkerton (Arrested in November 2005 and charged with capital murder; pleaded guilty in 2007 to five lesser counts of murder and was sentenced to five concurrent life sentences.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in Texas

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICKentucky Fried Chicken murdersWikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The New York TimesThe New York Times · 2026-07-07
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — cbs19.tvcbs19.tv · 2026-07-07

Record history

First published
JUL 07, 2026