Friends, family gather to mourn victim of North Richland Hills shooting
As adults gathered with bunches of pink and black balloons on Friday evening at Dallas’ Owenwood Park, children, dressed in the same colors, ran around a nearby playground.
“Shayla’s right there,” one of the children screamed, pointing at a framed photo leaned against a column. “That’s Shayla.”
The crowd had gathered in the neighborhood park for a balloon release in memory of 21-year-old DaShayla Jones, who was killed last week at an amusement park in North Richland Hills.
Jones was shot early Sunday, Sept. 7 in the parking lot of Malibu Jack’s amusement park after a man she did not know opened fire, police said.
The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Tychriston Reed of Fort Worth, was arrested in a nearby city after running from the scene, police said. Prior to the shooting, Reed was involved in an argument over a wristwatch inside the amusement park, investigators said.
Parties involved in the argument were leaving the indoor amusement park when Reed assaulted an employee, unprovoked, while making his way outside, according to police. Authorities say Reed then opened fire in the parking lot, killing Jones, wounding a 23-year-old Dallas man and also shooting at off-duty officers who were working at the business.
An off-duty North Richland Hills police officer returned fire at the shooter, and another officer applied a tourniquet to the wounded man before help arrived, police said.
Reed faces nine charges, including murder, two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant, four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of reckless endangerment of a child.
The charges of reckless endangerment of a child stem from the fact that there were children, including DeShayla Jones’ 4-year-old son, present in the parking lot at the time of the murder, police said.
Shayla was “a kind soul, a loyal friend, and above all, an incredible mother to her 4-year-old son,” Marilyn Sipert wrote on a GoFundMe account raising money for Jones’ family.
“Her life was taken far too soon, leaving behind a son who will now have to grow up without his mother’s love, guidance, and presence,” Sipert wrote. “No child should have to experience such a devastating loss at such a young age.”
Jones’ death is the second such tragedy in her family within six years: In 2019, Jones’ sister Muhlaysia Booker, who was transgender, was also shot and killed. The shooter in that case pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 48 years in prison.
“This is the world that we live in today,” a member of Jones’ family said in a prayer at the start of the balloon release. “But this is a world that God can still restore.”
This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 9:47 PM.
