KTRK reports mourning turned to screaming and running for cover when three shots were fired in the 12500 block of Ashford River in southeast Houston shortly after the candlelight vigil for Kennice Smith began around 6:00 p.m. More than 100 people were in attendance to remember a girl known for her beautiful smile and her love for track and cheerleading.
Smith and friends were planning to go see a movie on Saturday night when a grey sedan drove by and someone opened fire. KHOU reports Smith was shot and died at the scene. Her cousin, 17-year-old Jordan Short, and another 13-year-old girl were shot and wounded. The teens were rushed to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital. Short, who was shot in the foot, was released from the hospital on Sunday morning.
“If I hadn’t been behind the car, it would have been me,” Short told KHOU. “I tried to save [Smith], but by the time I knew it she was already hit. I had blood all over my hands. I didn’t know what to do. I just tried to grab her, but he hit me in the foot.”
The victims’ families said the shooting may be related to a recent romantic breakup involving Short, and had nothing to do with Smith.
“Guns are everywhere. You don’t do things like that when you have a gun. They’re supposed to be to protect yourself,” family friend Warniaka Wilhike told KTRK.
“This girl had a lot going for her,” Cheryl Short, Smith’s aunt, told KPRC. “She had a lot to live for and just to take her life like that, I don’t think it was fair.”
Police have not yet released a description of the drive-by suspects.
