NEWTON, Texas — Friends and family in Newton County are remembering a 16-year-old boy who was shot and killed over the weekend.
Jerome Rambo Jr. died at Christus Jasper Memorial Hospital early Sunday morning.
The Newton County Sheriff's Office says that Rambo was attending the party at the Elam Event Center off Highway 190 just west of Newton.
The family tells 12News that Jerome, or J.J., was a great kid who enjoyed playing basketball with his cousins, and they still can't believe he's gone.
Early Sunday morning, Rambo's family received a call that no parent should ever have to get.
One telling them that their son was in the hospital fighting for his life after being shot in the chest.
His father, Jerome Rambo Sr., says that the family didn't know much about his son's friends and he believes it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He didn't deserve to die, and from what we heard his last words were, it hurts," said Jerome Rambo Jr.'s aunt.
Newton County Sheriff Robert Burby says the TABC is leading the investigation into the party, while they focus on tracking down the person responsible.
For J.J.'s family it's all about justice.
"Nobody should ever have to bury their child. Event center or not wherever the case may be this investigation need to be pushed harder it's definitely a murder," said Rambo Sr.
The family tells 12News they heard a possible suspect turned themselves in, but Sheriff Burby says no charges have been filed.
The family also says that they requested an autopsy.