Arrests made in Fort Worth drive-by shooting that injured several children
After a drive-by shooting injured families and children sitting outside of a Fort Worth apartment complex, five men are behind bars.
That shooting took place at the Miramar Apartments along the Las Vegas Trail on May 1.
According to an arrest affidavit, 18-year-old Hayden Bates-Vellmure orchestrated the shooting to “let off fire” at a man who had been threatening him after he slept with the mother of that man’s child.
Instead, the gunman hit mostly kids.
Bates-Vellmure, along with 18-year-old Allan Gilbert, 17-year-old Jamal Piper, 20-year-old Jordan Jackson and 19-year-old Patrick Biscoe are each charged with six counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, discharge firearm from a motor vehicle and one count of deadly conduct discharge firearm at habitation.
“We want to send a message out there. You cannot just go shoot into a crowd of people without the fear of consequences,” said Fort Worth Police spokesperson Buddy Calzada.
Marquita Devereux was back at the complex Friday for a food distribution organized by local pastors, the Tarrant Area Food Bank and LVT Rise.
The screen of her living room window is still punctured and the glass shattered from the bullets that flew that day.
Her 14-year-old was grazed, one of four children injured.
“They shot kids. These kids could’ve died. So I think justice is served by them not being on the streets anymore, but as far as their charges go, I think they should be heavier than what they are,” said Devereux.
It’s a sentiment shared by Dontee Kinney.
Kinney’s three-year-old daughter was the youngest victim.
He said she still has stitches in her stomach and up her side, covering entrance and exit wounds.
“The police did exactly what they were supposed to do. They arrested someone for something real tragic, but me personally, I don’t think it’s enough. They’ve got a bunch of aggravated assault charges and my daughter was left for dead. So it wasn’t enough,” he said.
For now, Devereux is staying in a hotel. She’s one of multiple victims who is now looking for a new home.
Though police maintain they regularly patrol the Las Vegas Trail, while striving to not become an overbearing presence, she said she no longer feels her kids are safe.
“They want to go outside and play with chalk and hopscotch and all that, but they can’t. And I’m not going to have my kids on the frontline,” she said.
Through the five arrests, police said they confiscated 11 guns, though they are still working to determine which one was used in this crime.
Police credit information from witnesses along with surveillance video for tracking down those men who they say are responsible.