Teen shot and killed at Fort Worth party was innocent bystander, family says
Anthony Rangel was special since his birth, his aunt Lucy Rangel said.
In a family of mostly girls, when her sister learned she was having a boy, they were excited and thrilled for his arrival, she said. “He was the first grandson, first nephew, first cousin, and he was just full of love.”
Just days after his 19th birthday, the Fort Worth teen was killed as a bystander in a senseless shooting at a graduation party early Sunday morning, his family and friends say.
Anthony was invited to a friend’s house party Saturday night in Fort Worth’s Northside.
The family has been told that a young woman at the party started a fight and called someone for backup, who then arrived and began shooting randomly, Lucy Rangel said.
“From what we know my nephew ran as an innocent bystander when he got shot in the arm and he hid under a truck,” Lucy said. “The killer saw him get under the truck, and pretty much just shot the fatal shot and left.”
Anthony died from gunshots wounds to his arm and torso, according to the medical examiner. No arrest has been made in the case, and his family is pleading for answers about who killed him.
Police investigate deadly graduation party
Officers responded to the shooting in the 3700 block of North Houston Street about 12:30 a.m. Sunday, police said in a news release.
First responders found Anthony Rangel, who was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital before he died. Two other people were wounded in the shooting and hospitalized, police said.
Homicide detectives determined that two young women were arguing over one of the shooting victims when unidentified suspects arrived at the house, and one suspect got into a fight with a victim, police said.
The suspect pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots, striking the three victims, police said. The shooter left the scene in a vehicle and has not been identified.
According to Anthony Rangel’s girlfriend, Tierra Varela, Anthony was trying to de-escalate the fight that was going on between some girls over one of his friends. That young man asked him to go out to the front yard to help, and Anthony was in the process of ordering an Uber for the girls so they could go home, when the suspects arrived and started fighting with his friend, Varela said. That fight led to the gunfire that ended his life, she said. His friend was wounded by the gunfire.
Varela said that Anthony just wanted his other friend — the girl who was having the party — to have a good time, and the couple were planning to go celebrate his birthday after the party, so he decided to step in and try to cool things down.
“He was so gentle and kind to me,” Varela said. “He had such a good heart. He looked out for everybody. He looked out for my friends. He looked out for his friends ... He was really amazing.”
Varela said that if Anthony were here, he would tell the suspects that things could have easily turned out differently.
“He would tell them that it didn’t have to be that way, and that he could have just helped,” she said. “He could have just got the girls’ ride home, that they didn’t need to do that.”
‘Finding out who killed our boy’
Anthony was adventurous and as a family they traveled and got to see many new places together, Lucy Rangel said.
Varela also spoke about all the good times they had, traveling to Chicago for a baby shower and visiting extended family, and spring break in California, going to Disneyland, the beach and seeing the Hollywood sign. On a trip to Turks and Caicos, she remembers Anthony driving her in a jet ski and how much fun he had.
Anthony was in the process of enrolling in a trade school and becoming a welder.
“There is no bad bone in him, and that’s what’s so heartbreaking, that senseless tragedy took him from us,” Lucy said.
“We did everything in our power to shield him,” she said as her voice broke with tears.
Anthony’s mother, grandmother, aunt Lucy, extended family, and his many friends are trying to stay strong, his girlfriend said. Varela said that some of his friends who are in the military will not be able to attend the funeral, but have been staying in contact with her and the family, showing their support and sharing memories of their short time together.
Lucy said her nephew was a bright light, had a magnetic smile and gave the best hugs.
“Our priority has always been to get educated and be professionals to give a good life to our kids,” Lucy said. “My purpose now has changed to finding out who killed our boy.”
Family’s message to Fort Worth police
Lucy said the family has not received any meaningful information from Fort Worth police regarding the suspect.
A police spokesperson said in an email to the Star-Telegram on Tuesday afternoon that there was no update available yet on the investigation. Anthony was one of five people killed in four shootings across the city on Sunday. As of Tuesday afternoon, police had made arrests in two of the four cases.
“He was just a boy, and I don’t want his case to be just another violent case,” Anthony’s aunt said.
The family is frustrated because many possible pieces of evidence about what happened that night have been posted on social media, Lucy said. She wants to make sure police are collecting and reviewing that material.
“We are going to fight, and we will not rest until we find out,” Lucy said. “He has a full army behind him that’s ready to investigate, to get down to the details of what happened and find the killer.”
The loss of Anthony was unfair and his case deserves attention, Lucy said.
“He was raised in a household full of love, full of dreams, full of values,” she said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 6:28 PM.