Saturday marks one year since a deadly mass shooting rocked a south Fort Worth neighborhood. Seven people were shot, two killed and bullets hit surrounding homes. Police believe it was drug-related. One year later, they’ve made one arrest but are still looking for multiple suspects.
Saturday marks one year since a deadly mass shooting rocked a south Fort Worth neighborhood. Seven people were shot, two killed and bullets hit surrounding homes. Police believe it was drug-related. One year later, they've made one arrest but are still looking for multiple suspects.
NBC 5 spoke to one victim's family about their loss and their longing for justice.
"I like that one," said Melinda Hamilton, pointing to a picture of her daughter, Shemeka Rodriguez.
Hamilton keeps pictures of her daughter close. What else can you do when someone you love is snatched away?
"Each day you think about Meka not being here," Hamilton said.
The 32-year-old was killed in South Fort Worth one year ago Saturday, on East Davis Avenue near Evans.
"I really feel like she was left there and still is left there almost a year later," said her sister Renita Rodriguez.
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Shemeka Rodriguez was one of seven people shot that night, one of two killed. Fort Worth police say it was part of a drug deal that turned violent. Her family says her boyfriend was the one involved.
"I just want justice for her at end of the day because it wasn't right. It wasn't for her," Rodriguez said.
Hamilton is a longtime community activist who advocates against gun violence as president of the East Fort Worth Neighborhood Coalition.
She's frustrated her daughter's case still hasn't been solved and thinks the circumstances surrounding it and the high crime area where it happened are part of the reason why.
"Like you see these other cases, they take care of them," Hamilton said.
Police have made one arrest but they believe at least two more people are involved and no one who was there that night is talking.
"You have to put yourself in that spot, what if that was you?” Hamilton said. “And your child, or your brother, whatever, would you want me to say something for you?"
Rodriguez’s family doesn't want her written off as just someone running with the wrong crowd.
"No she's not, she's not because she would have given a kidney to a person she didn't even know," said Renita Rodriguez.
For now they'll keep their memories close, next to that ache for justice.
The head of Fort Worth PD's criminal investigation division, Captain Deven Pitt, told NBC 5 this case is still very active. He said a victim's potential involvement in a crime never affects how their case is treated, adding: "Every homicide investigation receives the utmost attention to detail that the victims and families deserve, regardless of where it occurred."
