As she was launching adult life, Fort Worth woman was shot dead in error as she drove
As she steered a car around a Fort Worth apartment building Tuesday evening, Hailey Watts could not know of the gunfire in her path ahead.
Watts was 18 and launching her adult life. She was living with her boyfriend after moving out on her own about a year ago. He was in the passenger seat as they arrived at the Park at LeBlanc apartments in the 6200 block of Salem Circle. The couple was intending to visit with her boyfriend’s brother.
Gunfire erupted around them as an assailant fired upon someone else.
Watts was shot about 6 p.m. and died in her car of a wound to her left arm and chest, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“She was just caught in the midst of it,” said Renea Dunn, Watts’ mother.
Dunn said the account of the circumstances of her daughter’s death came from a police detective. Fort Worth police have not announced an arrest, and a spokesman did not release information about the circumstances of the killing.
Watts, who for most of her life had been an only child, had two little sisters, 3 and 4. She adored them, her mother said.
Watts had previously worked at a warehouse and was not employed.
And though she had not settled on long-term work plans, Watts was looking forward to building her family and having children.
“She was wonderful,” Dunn said. “She was 18 and full of life.”
Watts’ mother said that it was important that someone who knows the assailant’s name share it with the police.
“She had so much life ahead of her,” she said.
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
