Friends and loved ones are remembering a man Dallas police say was killed earlier this week in what investigators describe as a capital murder investigation.
Aside from all the blue balloons and flowers, this is not the Saturday anyone in Morland Smith’s family had planned for.
“Morland loved the Cowboys,” his sister Staphanie Sharp said. “We’re going to live his memory, and we’re going to live it every day.”
The 51-year-old was remembered at a West Dallas park as a favorite uncle and kind brother.
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Family and friends prayed together and released blue and white balloons at 3:11 p.m. to symbolize Morland's March 11 birthday.
The family tells NBC 5 that Wednesday was supposed to be like any other. Morland Smith had just gone to get donuts at a shopping center in the 9500 block of Scyene Road in southeast Dallas.
That’s when Dallas police say a suspect or suspects approached him and another man and started shooting.
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The parking lot turned into a sea of yellow evidence markers indicating the dozens of rounds fired and the violence inflicted.
Morland Smith died, and so did 22-year-old Jamarcus Irving.
Pat Smith says the last 72 hours have brought a lot of confusion and very little sleep since his brother’s murder.
“That’s the thing we’re looking for most right now,” Smith said. “We just need answers as to why because he was just innocent, just standing there.”
