Police, Mom ask for help in 2023 house party that claimed life of Frisco teen

There have been no arrests made in a 2023 fatal shooting during a house party in Little Elm.

The shooting claimed the life of a beloved 17-year-old Frisco basketball player, Keith Slaughter, and left three others injured.

Home surveillance video not only captured the chaotic aftermath, but one angle caught a glimpse of the three individuals police say are responsible for the bloodshed.

According to police, officers responded to a shooting call at around 9:30 p.m. on October 21, 2023.

Officers discovered four innocent teens with gunshot wounds in or near the house located in the 2700 block of Sunlight Drive in Little Elm, including a 15-year-old girl.

“She was shot and she’s now suffering long-term disabilities from the injury,” said Roach.

Two other gunshot victims suffered minor injuries, he said.

Detectives have since narrowed their investigation from five persons of interest immediately following the shooting to just three captured on camera walking, then running from the scene as police sirens approached.

In an interview on Tuesday, Little Elm Police Officer Austin Roach explained how the suspects opened fire on unsuspecting teens.

“The shooters, we believe, are three people, came into the neighbor’s backyard, fired shots through the fence into the party where they killed Keith Slaughter and wounded that 15-year-old girl,” he said. “She was shot and she’s now suffering long-term disabilities from the injury.”

They hope someone recognizes one of their ‘persons of interest’ by the way he was walking at the time of the murder, describing it as a limp.

Police don’t know the motive.

It’s also not clear whether the suspects had been turned away from the party, since people were checking for weapons at the door.

Natasha Slaughter misses everything about her son.

“I miss his attitude. I miss fussing at him,” she said with a smile. “Him coming into my room in the mornings, laying across my chest just to give me a hug as I play in his hair.”

Slaughter says she has not received an update from detectives in a few months, but is holding out hope they are making progress.

“Being that it is a year and a half, it almost makes me wonder if the case will go cold, and that makes me nervous because at the end of the day, I want my son to have the justice he deserves,” she said.

When asked if the case has grown cold or close to it, Officer Roach said, “We’re not at the place of calling it cold, but we do need help from the community to identify these three folks.”

“This is a terrible thing that happened in our community, a terrible thing that happened to great people,” said Roach. “We’re looking for every bit of information that we can. No tip is too small.”

In her own plea, Slaughter wants to say this to the suspects or anyone who knows information about them: “I just feel like, if someone, if it was in your shoes or maybe you died and your parents wanted to know -- your grandparent, your family members -- like what happened to you. If you know something, please come forward.”

While justice has eluded the victims, Slaughter finds comfort in the son she had.

She shared with NBC 5 that two days after her son’s funeral services, she received a letter in the mail for him. It was an acceptance letter from Oklahoma State University.

“I just think that now he’s an honorary forever student at OSU,” she said. “Maybe not with me, but in the clouds, he’s in college. That gives me a little bit of solace. I’m happy and I’m proud of him because I know I raised a good son. I’ve always known that.”

Slaughter also launched the Keith Slaughter Foundation to support high school athletes in DFW suburbs. The foundation provides teens with resources and opportunities to thrive on and off the field, according to the organization’s website.

Anyone with information on this case is urged to contact Detective Christopher Beadle at 945-985-2830 or Christopher.beadle@littleelm.gov.