Mother of 8 fatally shot as she protected her daughter at party, sisters say
When shots rang out at a birthday party in a Forest Hill neighborhood, Demetrice Stewart protected her daughter.
Stewart, a mother of eight, died taking care of her child.
Family members say the 30-year-old Forest Hill mother suffered a gunshot wound to the head in the July 20 shooting when an unidentified person opened fire.
Stewart’s 14-year-old daughter was at the party.
“Her daughter had called and wanted to be picked up because some girls wanted to jump her,” Stewart’s sister Tasha Stewart Allen said. “My sister got there and a few minutes later a man started shooting.”
Forest Hill police have not released any information on a motive for the shooting. No one had been arrested as of Thursday.
A 13-year-old also was wounded in the shooting, but he suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to Stewart’s family.
Stewart was rushed to a Fort Worth hospital the night of July 20 and fought for her life for days. She died Monday at 5:40 p.m., according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s website.
Stewart’s family started a GoFundMe account at gofundme.com/f/demetrice-stewart-recovery-fund shortly after the shooting and have kept it open to raise money for the family and funeral expenses.
“We ask of you to give what you can, no matter how little you think it may be,” said Tasha Stewart Allen, of McKinney, who created the GoFundMe account. “Everything counts, and everything helps.”
Allen said Thursday in a telephone interview that the pain remains.
“I get very emotional talking about it,” Allen said.
Tiffaney Stewart of Fort Worth, another one of Demetrice Stewart’s sisters, said the unknown man fired several shots.
“My sister was just there a few minutes before the shooting started,” Tiffaney Stewart said in a phone interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Police responded to a call of shots fired about 10 p.m. on July 20 in the 7300 block of Tradition Drive in Forest Hill. The city is adjacent to Fort Worth in southeast Tarrant County.
When they arrived, Forest Hill police saw a crowd of more than 100 people in the neighborhood. Stewart’s family said it was a child’s birthday party.
Officers found Demetrice Stewart and the teenage boy with gunshot wounds.
Authorities said there were reports that several people at the scene recorded the incident with cell phones. Police asked those with recordings to contact authorities.
If anyone has information on the shooting, call Forest Hill police at 817-531-5265.
Funeral arrangements for Demetrice Stewart are pending.
“She was upbeat, very outgoing,” said Tiffaney Stewart. “She helped everyone, but most of all she loved her kids.”
This report contains information from Star-Telegram archives.
