FORT WORTH, Texas — Two teenagers are dead after a weekend Valentine's Day party turned violent in Fort Worth early Saturday morning, investigators tell WFAA.
The party was held along 1100 East Baltimore in central Fort Worth.
Fort Worth officer Buddy Calzada told WFAA that officers arrived at a house in the area after midnight and found 13-year-old Kory Smith and 19-year-old Simieon Joseph with gunshot wounds.
Both were transported to the hospital where Smith died. Joseph later died after receiving treatment.
The department is staying tight-lipped about what happened -- only telling WFAA that a motive is under investigation and that it's still looking for the suspect(s).
A man related to the woman who hosted the party told WFAA that a group of individuals not invited arrived and that an argument led to shots being fired.
The man also said that Smith and Joseph were innocent bystanders.
Joseph's parents, Melody and Dexter, spoke with WFAA Sunday afternoon, saying they'd been blindsided.
"They didn't just take my son," Melody Joseph said. "They took a friend. I want them to catch whoever did this, and I want them to get the max penalty."
Joseph has been living with his family since graduating from Crowley High School in 2021.
His mother said that he had been focusing on music and wanted to push into the rap scene -- a goal now cut short.
"He's not coming back," Dexter Joseph said. "Somebody took his life, and that doesn't sit well with me."
Melody said that she couldn't believe two young lives were taken so suddenly.
"They didn't just take my baby -- they took someone else's 13-year-old baby, and that is devastating," Joseph said.
An online fundraising campaign was set up to help the Joseph family with funeral costs.
If you have any tips regarding this case that may help investigators make an arrest, call 817-469-8477.