PORT ARTHUR, Texas — A Port Arthur man says the community needs to make a change after a 22-year-old mother was killed in an early morning shooting on Sunday.
Jasmine Newman was killed in what police are calling a "cowardly act of violence."
Newman was an innocent bystander in the incident according to police.
When Darrell Smothers learned that Jasmine, a childhood friend of his daughter, died in a shooting he was heartbroken.
"She would always run up to me, hey Brother Smothers. She was always a good spirit, beautiful soul, and the world is going to be a little bit worse without her, I think," Smothers said.
Police say she was shot at a home in the 1100 block of Vicksburg around 2:30 Sunday morning.
Three other people were also shot, but are expected to be okay.
Smothers says it's time for the community to come together.
"They always wanna put it on the city leaders, which they play a part also. Everyone plays a part, we need to take our community back, we need to do better," Smothers said. "Evil flourishes when good men do nothing."
Terikka Branch lives in the neighborhood where Newman was shot and killed. She said the shooting was the final straw for her.
"I told my kids this morning, that I wanna move ASAP," Branch said.
She believes the way to stop the violence is to start at home, with parents.
"It's not just the kids, it's the parents too. If the parents would get on the kids it wouldn't be so much, it's time to stop something, it gotta stop or it's going to continue and it's not ain't go be no Port Arthur," Branch said.
Smothers believes action needs to be taken so another innocent life is not lost.
"Prayers without action are fruitless, so we not only need to pray but we need to put those prayers to work," he said.
