Dallas, TX
Family of mother killed in Dallas drive-by hopeful murder arrest helps police find other shooters
Arrest made in Dallas drive-by that killed mother of 2
24-year-old Shaniah Jones was killed in a drive-by shooting at a block party near Fair Park in the early morning hours of July 16.
DALLAS –
Dallas police linked at least one suspect to the drive-by murder of a woman outside a Dallas liquor store over the summer.
More arrests could be on the way.
A weight has partially been lifted off the family of Shaniah Jones.
“I just fell on the floor, hollering and screamed Hallelujah, praised God, and cried,” said Shatammini Jones, Shaniah’s mother when asked about her reaction to the arrest.
The 24-year-old was killed in a drive-by shooting at a block party near Fair Park in the early morning hours of July 16.
4 others were injured in the shooting.
Last week, Dallas Police charged 23-year-old Laquest Sirls with the murder, but there were multiple shooters, according to an arrest warrant.
“He’s going to be the one that talks because he’s going to want that deal,” said Shatammini Jones.
10 days after the July shooting, Sirls contacted Dallas Police to give information about a separate murder from the year before, according to the affidavit.
Dallas Police had already identified Sirls as a suspect in the block party shooting with the help of surveillance video, license plate readers, GPS tracking and other evidence.
It is unclear if Sirls knew he was a suspect.
Later, cell phone data records placed Sirls at the scene of the shooting.
He was arrest on Thursday.
The motive is not stated in the affidavit, but it says that Sirls hangs out with “gang members.”
“It’s a lot of young kids involved and the way they just go about things nowadays is just like, it probably was just another activity for them,” said Markycia Small, Shaniah’s sister.
Jones’ loved ones say they do not know what led to the shooting, but they do not believe she was the target.
“She was minding her own business. She wasn’t even involved in whatever they had going on,” said Jones’ mother.
The 24-year-old Jones had a 2-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter. Jones lived with her mother.
Now, her mother hopes the rest of the shooters involved will be caught by police.
“She loved her kids, she loved her mother. She did everything for me,” her mother said.