Fort Worth

“I'm Hurting” Says Mom of Teen Killed in Shooting at Apartment Complex in Fort Worth on Memorial Day

The teen's mother said her son, 15-year-old Xavier Hullaby, was shot and killed outside the front door of their apartment complex on Monday

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Fort Worth Police continue to investigate a deadly shooting at an apartment complex that left a teenage boy dead and a family in mourning on Memorial Day.

Officers responded to a shooting call in the 2100 block of Tanna Lane at the Arwen Apartments on Monday around 6:30 p.m., according to Fort Worth Police.

Investigators said they found a juvenile male dead at the scene and the Homicide Unit will continue the investigation.

Maryta Smith said the victim was her son, 15-year-old Xavier Hullaby.

"I'm hurting and I want answers," said Smith who said she doesn't want this to become a cold case. “It’s senseless and I'm tired of it, I’m tired of it not just for my child, I'm tired of it for other children too. They're supposed to bury us, we aren’t supposed to be out here burying them.”

Smith said she was on her way home from a trip to Houston. She spoke with her adult daughter about what they wanted to eat, who was inside the apartment with her 6-year-old granddaughter and Xavier.

“He was a brother, an uncle, he loved his nieces and nephews. He was looking forward to go on a field day with his niece tomorrow, but she had to watch her uncle be taken away. She’s 6, she shouldn’t have to deal with it," said Smith.

She said someone knocked on their door and when her son answered that's when the shooting took place.

“I’m hurting, I’m a mama hurting. His dad is incarcerated right now. He's hurt. He's got to come home to bury his child," expressed Smith.

Investigators didn't have any new details regarding what led up to the shooting, but Smith believes it's from an incident that involved former friends of her son.

“Apparently something that happened six months ago that he wasn't even involved with. It was something that mutual friends of his that used to be friends of his that were involved, that’s where the story came from," said Smith.

She learned about it last week when she came home to find more than 20 teen boys trying to fight her son.

"They said, 'Y'all jump my friend, we got you.' He (Xavier) said, 'I didn't jump your friend in the first place.' He said, 'I wasn’t in it then, I wasn’t in it now," explained Smith.

She doesn't know the details of what took place on Monday, but the hallway outside her apartment is riddled with bullet marks.

“I just miss my baby, I haven’t seen his face I want to see his face," cried Smith. "I just want to lay my eyes on him. I can't sleep. I'm not gonna eat. I can't rest until I see my baby's face."

Smith said she was also upset that wasn't able to see her son when she arrived at the scene. She said he was shot in the head. She said she's grateful to have a supportive family and the means to provide her son with a proper funeral. Smith said she's asking for anyone with information to come forward.

"Speak up. Would you want them to be silent if it was yours? Would you want them silent if they were burying your child? Thank God I don’t have to shake a cup to bury my son, but what about the mother that does have to get out here and set up a page to help bury her son," said Smith.

Smith said they're originally from Shreveport, LA and she moved to Fort Worth to get away from crime.

"He wanted to go back home for the last couple of months, he just started to get where he hated Fort Worth and he wanted to home, he begged to go home, I wouldn't let him go home to just stay with family members or anything because I feared for his life in Shreveport," Cried Smith.

She plans to bring her son's body back home to Louisiana to the cemetery where Xavier's grandmother and uncle were laid to rest.

“I want to take him home to where his granny is and his uncle, then again I might decide I don’t want to bury him, because who wants to put their son in a box, and put him below the ground, nobody," cried Smith. "I haven't seen his face. I feel like he's in a place alone looking for his momma and his momma is looking for him because I haven't seen his face and I don't know where he’s at.”

Those with any information are asked to call Fort Worth Police.

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