NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) – A Friday morning shooting on Hackberry Street prompted a rapid police response to the scene, but for Dequavious Brooks’ family, the devastating call had already come: their 17-year-old son had been shot.
Brooks was one of three people who died this morning in a car in Nacogdoches.
His cousin, Laquencia Pinkney, recounted the moment she received the heartbreaking news.
“When I got that call, I went into a full-blown panic. I was screaming at the top of my lungs,” Pinkney said.
“He had his whole life ahead of him. To have him taken away like that, brother, is inexplicable.”
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Pinkney described Dequavious as a son to her, and his loss has deeply affected her and her family.
“He was really my guy before I had children. That’s why this has hit me in a different way,” she said.
She said Dequavious was kind, empathetic, and compassionate, and that he always did his best to support others when they were hurting.
His violent death has left Pinkney and her family in shock.
“I didn’t see this coming because he was different. He was different when he was with the right people,” she said.
Pinkney hopes that his death can spur change in the community.
She urged young people to be careful about the people they associate with and to be more aware of their surroundings and actions. She described the entire ordeal as a nightmare and said she wishes she could talk to him one more time.
