Man shot during Fort Worth robbery last month dies in hospital, officials say
A 55-year-old man has died after he was shot during a robbery in west Fort Worth last month, officials said.
Claude Jeter Smith died at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital on June 13 from complications of gunshot wounds, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website. His death was ruled a homicide.
An unknown suspect shot Smith in the back at a home in the 5400 block of Blackmore Avenue the night of May 3, police said. Property and cash were stolen from him and another person who was at the house.
Detectives from the Homicide Unit will lead the investigation into Smith’s death, according to police. No arrests have been announced.
Second fatal shooting at same house
Jordan Travis Moore was killed in an apparently drug-related shooting at the same address on Feb. 5, police said. Officers found Moore with multiple gunshot wounds when they responded to the 5400 block of Blackmore Avenue about 2 p.m. Moore, 27, died at the scene. Desean Person, 33, was arrested as a suspect in Moore’s death.
Moore’s girlfriend accompanied him to the house. According to Person’s arrest warrant affidavit, the girlfriend told detectives the 27-year-old was at the Blackmore Avenue location twice in January. On Feb. 5, she overheard Moore tell someone over the phone that he was “about to pull up.” Less than a minute later they arrived at the house, and the girlfriend noticed a silver or white sedan parked in the driveway.
Moore got out of the car and walked to the front door. A few minutes later his girlfriend heard gunshots, and started to drive away. She told detectives she came back when she realized Moore wasn’t running from the gunfire, according to the affidavit.
When she returned, Moore’s girlfriend noticed the sedan in the driveway was gone. She found Moore lying unresponsive on the porch, the affidavit states.
Police found Moore’s cellphone on the living room sofa. Investigators discovered he’d made two calls right before the shooting, both to a contact named “Ruger.” The phone number listed as “Ruger” belonged to Person, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance footage of the area showed a silver Hyundai sedan with a temporary license plate parked in the driveway of the Blackmore Avenue home several times in January, and again on Feb. 3. A neighbor reported seeing a man and woman drive away in a silver sedan immediately after the shooting. A photo of the car taken by the neighbor showed it was the same silver Hyundai that had been parked outside the house multiple times before, the affidavit states.
Moore’s girlfriend told police in a follow-up interview that the two of them had picked someone up from the Blackmore Avenue house and dropped them off at the Mistletoe Station Apartments right before the shooting. Surveillance footage at the apartment complex showed Moore dropping someone off there shortly after 1 p.m. on Feb. 5, according to the affidavit. Moore then headed back to Blackmore Avenue.
A few minutes later, surveillance footage showed a silver Hyundai pull up to the Mistletoe Station Apartments and park. A man, woman and child get out and go inside. Detectives identified the man as Desean Person, according to the affidavit. Around 30 minutes later, the three got back in the Hyundai and left the apartment complex.
The Hyundai was seen returning to the Mistletoe Apartments about 2 p.m. The driver dropped off the woman and child and drove away. The woman appeared “visibly distraught,” the affidavit states.
Person was arrested March 19. A Tarrant County grand jury indicted him on a murder charge on June 11, according to court records. Person is being held in the Tarrant County Jail on a bond of nearly $600,000.
Police have not said whether the two fatal shootings were connected.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 1:34 PM.
