Fort Worth mom battling cancer shares memories of 16-year-old son lost in fatal shooting
Damariion Henton was always smiling, Ashley Lemmons said as she remembered her 16-year-old son, who died last week when police say he was accidentally shot by another teenager.
In the last conversation Lemmons remembers with her son, Damariion expressed how much he loved her, she said.
Damariion, who was a student at Polytechnic High School, was fatally shot on Nov. 5 at a friend’s house in the 3500 block of Avenue L. Fort Worth police said that another teen was handling a handgun and he told investigators that he unintentionally fired the weapon.
“My son had a very beautiful smile, always smiling, always caring, always considerate, even when he was wrong, he always apologized,” Lemmons said. “Very loving, giving, funny, and was just all the way a good person inside and out.”
Damariion was the second oldest out of seven siblings.
His girlfriend’s 14-year-old relative was playing with a gun when he accidentally shot Damariion in the neck, Lemmons said.
She said all her children are very sad and heartbroken.
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Lemmons, who lost her son last week, also is battling cancer, she said.
“I do have medical issues myself, so right now, literally, I’m just trying to keep myself safe in that piece, because I really can’t afford to be sicker than I am already,” she said.
Lemmons she said hoped to get victim assistance to bury her child but the process has been slow.
Community members who want to help Lemmons can donate to a GoFundMe. As a single parent struggling with medical bills and planning a funeral, any financial help would mean a lot, she said.
A good student gone too soon
Damariion was an honor-roll student at Poly High School. When he was in middle school, he already had high school credits, his mother said.
Even when he had hard times, he always made an effort to do good things at school, Lemmons said.
“When he was younger, there were multiple teachers who always came up to me and said they wish they could duplicate him, and have other students be like him,” his mother said.
He was on the basketball team at his school and wanted to become a basketball player, and he also wanted to be an NBA agent, Lemmons said.
Fort Worth ISD said in a statement that school officials are “deeply saddened by the loss of a student from Polytechnic High School. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the student’s family, friends, and the entire Poly community during this difficult time.”
School officials said counseling would be made available on campus.
According to the CDC, unintentional injuries including shootings are one of the leading causes of death among children in the United States.
Lemmons said she knows the teen who shot her son and, “every time that he has ever come to my home, he’s always giving me hugs and has been respectful to me.”
Fort Worth police have not said whether any charges are expected to be filed in the ongoing investigation.
Lemmons said she wants the 14-year-old to take responsibility but also to have a chance in life and get proper counseling.
“As a person of color and a minority, you know, we all have seen a lot of our people of color be in the jail system, and they don’t get a second chance,” she said.
“I forgive that young man — I want him to come back from his mistakes, and be a better version of himself,” she said.
Lemmons also wants young people to be reminded that if they have a gun they should turn it in to the authorities. No matter what they are dealing with, one never knows what their life could be, she said.
“It’s easy to take a life, and it’s easy to get in trouble, but it’s hard to get out of it,” she said.