‘He was a peacemaker,’ mother says of son killed outside Modesto bar and billiard hall
Her son will be remembered as a protector and a peacemaker, said the mother of the 22-year-old man fatally shot outside a north Modesto bar and billiards hall Sunday night.
The shooting was reported about 9 p.m. at the CR2 Bar and Billiards in a strip mall on the southeast corner of Oakdale Road and Sylvan Avenue. Officers arrived and found Thomas Hinchman with a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Modesto Police Department. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed at the scene until he was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where he died.
Hinchman and the gunman had been inside the bar before the shooting. MPD spokeswoman Sharon Bear said there was later a dispute in the parking lot, during which Hinchman was shot.
The initial police account from the scene, based on preliminary investigation and witness interviews, was that the gunman fired the single shot as he drove away. But that original version has changed as investigators continue to process evidence and sort through witness accounts, Bear said Tuesday morning.
At the scene Sunday night, a young woman later identified as Hinchman’s cousin told The Bee that the gunman valued his car over human life, but was distraught and would comment no further. Hinchman’s mother, Modesto resident Melissa Wright, explained the comment in a phone interview Tuesday morning.
She said her son was in the CR2 parking lot with a friend, who leaned against a car while smoking a cigarette. The car’s owner came out, saw that and began screaming and cursing at her son’s friend. According to the friend, she said, Hinchman came between the two to apologize for leaning on the car and to defuse the situation.
The man sucker-punched her son, Wright said, and a fight ensued. At some point, she was told by her son’s friend, the man opened his car, pulled out a gun and shot Hinchman point blank. Police at this time are not confirming any account of what happened.
“He was a peacemaker — my son was protecting a friend, and sometimes when a person is protecting,” it doesn’t look that way to someone who has “a heart to hurt and harm,” Wright said.
“My heart aches for the man who pulled the trigger because he has so much anger and hate in his heart and my son was the opposite,” she said, adding that her strength comes from her faith.
A lot of her son’s friends were misunderstood by most people, but he never turned away from any of them, Wright said. He always strove to be someone who loved well, and he succeeded, she said. “He had an infectious laugh and a smile that brought comfort to you.”
As Hinchman and his family moved around Modesto a few times, he attended Downey and Enochs high schools before graduating from Johansen High. He worked at restaurants, including as a prep cook at Verona’s Cucina Italiana, then underwent the training necessary to become the care provider for his injured paternal grandfather, Wright said.
Cooking remained Hinchman’s passion, his mother said, and he planned to enroll in the Columbia College culinary arts program in the fall. “All his friends knew that when there was a gathering, my son would do the cooking and it would be good.”
Hinchman has two younger brothers, David Favela and Isaac Favela, his mother said. The family is making funeral arrangements. Services will be held at the church it attends in Hilmar, but no date has been set.
On a gofundme page set up to help the family, Wright’s cousin Shawna Medina wrote, “She (Wright) was already grieving the loss of her dad just 4 days prior. She was in the middle of planning his funeral. I can’t imagine what it will be like for her to plan two funerals while grieving so deeply.”
Tuesday morning, Bear said there is not yet any confirmed information on the suspect in Sunday’s homicide. Asked about any surveillance camera footage being reviewed, and about a vehicle description, she added, “Evidence being reviewed has not been released and no vehicle info is being released yet.”
Investigators asked anyone with information about Sunday night’s shooting to call Crime Stoppers at 209-521-4636. Tipsters can send an e-mail through the Crime Stoppers website, stancrimetips.com. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
This story was originally published February 19, 2019 at 8:45 AM.
