An arrest has been made in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old new mother. The victim’s family says the suspect is her baby’s father. NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero spoke with her family.
A 17-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a 17-year-old high school junior in Southern Dallas on Sunday morning is now in police custody.
The Dallas Police Department said Monday afternoon they were looking for Trevon Darnell Wright in connection with the murder of Ikea Imari Hood, a mother to a 3-week-old infant girl and a junior at Lancaster High School.
An arrest warrant for murder was issued for Wright on Monday, police said. He was taken into custody sometime Tuesday by a U.S. Marshals task force and was booked into the Dallas County Jail. On Wednesday, jail records showed Wright's bond amount had been set at $500,000. It's unclear if he has obtained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Over the weekend Dallas Police said officers were called to a shooting on the 700 block of Grambling Drive at about 10:40 a.m. Sunday and that when the officers arrived they found a woman injured with an apparent gunshot wound.
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The woman, later identified as Hood, died from her injury.
Hood’s seven siblings and other family members are rallying around each other, united in grief and shock over the loss of the beautiful and talented young woman.
“Goofy, funny, she always had us laughing,” said sister Jalaya Williams. “Kea was a celebrity! She was everything.”
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The 17-year-old was a junior at Lancaster High School where she was a member of the school’s Tigerette Drill Team.
“She wanted to graduate, go to college dance on the collegiate level and she really had that ability and could’ve accomplished that goal,” said dance instructor Quinta Gossett-McVay.
Above all, Hood was a doting new mother. She’d just given birth to a baby girl named Ice’Lynn three weeks ago.
“She was so happy to be a mother to Ice’Lynn, be her mom, go on this journey, figure out their way together,” she said. “Kea wasn’t violent. She wasn’t into violent things, that wasn’t who she was. So, for her to be taken so violently and so early, it’s just unreal to us.”
Dallas Police have not revealed a motive for the shooting or provided any details on how Wright and Hood knew each other. The family members, however, told NBC 5 during an interview on Tuesday that the Wright was the father of Hood's baby and was her on-again, off-again boyfriend.
Hood’s mother, Tequoya Lester, clarified to NBC 5 on Wednesday that Wright and his family found out the baby was not his biological child days before the shooting. The families met to share the results of a paternity test and reportedly agreed to move on amicably. Hood, her mom said, was devastated because she thought the baby was his so she allowed Wright to come visit because her daughter still wanted him in her life.
Lester, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5 on Wednesday, told police her daughter and Wright were at her residence on the morning of the shooting. She said she heard a loud noise at about 10:30 a.m. and went to check on her daughter. Lester said her daughter's bedroom door was shut and locked and that she began banging on the door but no one answered. She told police she went outside and saw the bedroom window open and the screen pushed out of the window frame. Lester said she then found her injured daughter in her bedroom and Wright was gone.
“She was shot in her home,” said her sister. “She was shot in her home and was taken from her 3-week-old daughter.”
The police investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Williams said the family is now focused on being there for baby Ice’Lynn.
“I had my first night with her last night and it was a very hard night,” she said. “She hasn’t been sleeping. She’s not eating. She misses her mom.”
The Lancaster ISD returned from winter break on Monday, Jan. 8, and said they would provide counseling and grief services for students and staff at the high school.
"Lancaster ISD is deeply saddened about the tragic passing of our student, Ikea Hood. Her death represents a great loss for our district, and we will be providing counseling and grief services for students and staff members impacted by this tragedy," the district said in a statement Sunday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with her entire family and the Lancaster High School community."
There will be a balloon release Wednesday afternoon at Lancaster High School in honor of Ikea Hood. Attendees are asked to wear pink and white. Funeral services are set for Saturday at Eternal Rest Funeral Home.
“We’re all coming together to make sure Ice’Lynn knows this is your mom. She was amazing. She was everything. She loved you. She wanted to be with you,” family said.
The family has a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral services and baby essentials. For more information on how to donate to the GoFundMe, click here.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Detective Andrew Knoebel at 469-849-3755 or Andrew.knoebel@dallaspolice.gov.
