Two teenagers, 13-year-old Kory Smith and 19-year-old Simieon Joseph, were left dead after a shooting occurred during a Valentine’s Day party on February 11 in Fort Worth.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, a witness called 9-1-1 around 11:45 pm on February 11 after hearing a loud boom in the 1100 block of East Baltimore Avenue, close to Interstate 35W.
The witness reported hearing many gunshots after the initial boom that caused him to call. In an interview with WFAA, Buddy Calzada, a Fort Worth police officer, stated that they responded to the residence shortly after midnight.
Simieon Joseph, from Crowley, was found in the residence with a gunshot wound to the back and was pronounced dead on the scene at 12:40 am, according to the report from the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Kory Smith, from Fort Worth, was found with a gunshot wound to the head and was transported to John Peter Smith Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries at approximately 8:00 p.m. on February 12.
A relative of the party’s host told WFAA that a group of uninvited guests had arrived at the party, an argument occurred, and gunshots were fired. The relative believes that the teenagers were innocent bystanders and not the intended targets of the suspect(s).
Melody, Simieon Joseph’s mother, expressed, “They didn’t just take my son. They took a friend. I want them to catch whoever did this, and I want them to get the max penalty.” Joseph’s father, Dexter, shared, “He’s not coming back. Somebody took his life, and that doesn’t sit well with me.”
“They didn’t just take my baby, they took someone else’s thirteen-year-old baby, and that is devastating,” Melody added.
Both victims’ cause of death is listed as a homicide, and the investigation is ongoing. Authorities have no suspects as of now.
