05-03-2025
Leaders unite to end gun violence after fatal shooting of Fort Worth rapper and daughter
A coalition of North Texas community leaders called for an end to gun violence on Wednesday, following the fatal shooting of Fort Worth rapper Lil Ronnie and his 5-year-old daughter at a Forest Hill car wash the previous day.
A suspect has been identified and a warrant issued for capital murder, police said. The department, however, is not releasing suspect names as the investigation is ongoing.
During a news conference, Fort Worth City Councilman Chris Nettles said the issue of gun violence isn't just in one city or one neighborhood. He emphasized that the community must have a hand in fighting the issue.
"If you have any knowledge of what happened yesterday and you have not said anything, if you were aware that a takedown was going to take place prior to the hit, you are not only part of the problem, you are the problem," Nettles said. "And we need you to stand with us to prevent these actions from happening again."
Nettles joined Forest Hill Mayor Stephanie Boardingham, Melinda Hamilton, founder of Mothers of Murdered Angels (MOMA); Michael Bell of the Unity in the Community Coalition of Tarrant County; and Rodney McIntosh, program director of VIP Fort Worth, in calling for a unified front.
Monday's double murder is the fourth and fifth reported homicides in Forest Hill this year. There were zero last year, Boardingham said.
"We can't keep doing this," Boardingham said. "We need to stop burying our children."
Late last month, a former employee of an auto sales business in Forest Hill was charged with murder following a shooting at the company that resulted in two deaths and one injury.
Days later, a 36-year-old Forest Hill mother was killed by stray bullets in her backyard. Family members said she was by the fire pit when a stray bullet came through the fence and struck her.
"Violence has no place in our community," Bell said.
Bell called Monday's murder a "heinous act of violence" that "demands justice and urges action."
"We should not be burying 5-year-old kids," McIntosh said.
McIntosh, speaking on behalf of the mother who lost her daughter Monday at the Forest Hill car wash, said she is heartbroken and grieving. He said the mother dropped her daughter at the car wash after she had spent time at a birthday party at Great Wolf Lodge with family.
"Fort Worth, we must do better," McIntosh said.
Forest Hill police responded to Slappy's Car Wash on Forest Hill Drive just north of I-20 just before 11 a.m. on Monday. One witness told a CBS News Texas photojournalist that they heard 20 to 30 gunshots.
Police have said the suspects are described as two Black males wearing blue jeans and gray sweaters. Forest Hill police said the suspects exited a white, four-door Kia and approached the victim's vehicle, which was stationary in a bay at the car wash. The suspects opened fire and fled the area.
Video from CBS News Texas chopper showed dozens of evidence markers on the ground and a heavy police presence around the car wash.
The Texas Rangers are leading the investigation, Forest Hill police said, with the assistance of the Forest Hill Criminal Division, Fort Worth Police Department, Everman Police Department, Kennedale Police Department and Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
