Little Elm Police: 5 persons of interest sought after house party shooting leaves popular student dead

Tragedy marked the end of a large house party with around 100 young people over the weekend in Little Elm.

A shooting left a popular Frisco high school student-athlete dead and two others injured.

Little Elm police released two surveillance videos detectives hope will lead them to the person or persons responsible.

Police say the two groups of people captured on home surveillance videos shortly after the fatal shooting are considered ‘persons of interest.’

The shooting at a house in the 2700 block of Sunlight Drive claimed the life of Keith Slaughter, 17.

Slaughter was a senior at Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, according to the school district.

His family spoke with NBC 5 on Monday.

“It’s really hard to come to terms that he’s not just in his room being antisocial. He’s actually not there,” said big brother Kemarian Childs. “Everything feels like everything’s happening so quickly, but it also feels like the world is frozen.”

The teen’s mother, Natasha Slaughter, says she wants to make something very clear.

“I want to make sure it’s very clear that my son is not involved in any gang-related violence, any Black on Black or any stereotypical things that could be put out in the public,” she said. “He was just a simple teenager in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Police responded to a report of a shooting at a large house party at around 9:30 on October 21, according to LEPD.

When officers arrived, they found Slaughter dead on the scene and a female with life-threatening injuries.

Police found a third shooting victim two streets away from the scene.

The department’s assistant chief of police did not have any update on the condition of the survivors on Monday afternoon.

Detectives opted to release two video clips, captured on neighbors’ home surveillance cameras, showing two groups of people running from the scene.

In one clip, three individuals “in dark colored hoodies,” said LEPD Assist. Chief of Police Mandy Biter. “They are initially walking, and when they hear police sirens, they begin running away from the scene.”

A second video shows someone in what appears to be a white t-shirt using a key fob to unlock their dark-colored vehicle and letting at least one other person in before speeding away.

Frisco ISD released a statement describing Slaughter as a popular member of the school’s varsity basketball team.

The Oklahoma native hoped to perhaps play basketball in college, either locally or at OU, where his brother Kemarian is a student.

“He cared about his grades because he wanted to go to college and play basketball,” said Slaughter. “His friends mattered to him a lot.”

She agrees her son was going places, saying he began walking when he was just seven months old.

Lebanon Trail High School paused during the school day on Monday to remember Slaughter, according to FISD.

Grief counselors are also on hand for anyone in need.

“Everyone who knew me already knew him,” said Kemarian, 19, with a smile. “I’d meet someone I’d say: “Hey, I’m Keith’s brother.” And they’d be like: “Oh, I know Keith! You’re Keith’s brother?! I didn’t know he had a brother! He’s so cool.”

Slaughter says her son told her he was going to hang out with friends on Saturday and later found out they ended up going to the birthday party in Little Elm.

Slaughter began receiving phone calls about a shooting and rushed to the active scene Saturday night.

Frantic, she began showing nearby teens and officers a picture of her son, asking if they’d seen him.

She was told her son’s phone was found in the backyard and that his friends only knew he began to run when shots rang out.

An officer later told her that her son was likely a shooting victim but did not say he was dead on the scene, she recalled.

Her partner, Marcos Branche, is pleading for help in finding the people responsible.

Like police, Slaughter says she does not know what would have motivated someone to open fire on the party.

“I don’t know if there are kids in this situation. I don’t know what happened,” she said. “But if it was kids, I’ve always instilled in my kids: make sure what you put out there is what you want back, because it’s going to come back.”

Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to call LEPD.

Detective Paul Keith can be reached at 214-975-0460 extension 414 or via email at PKEITH@LITTLEELM.ORG.

The family has created a fundraising website. For more information, click here.