Loved ones celebrate the life of a Fort Worth makeup artist killed in July 4 shooting
The Christ Cathedral Church in Fort Worth overflowed with people Tuesday night for Latasha Hymond’s wake.
As the attendees moved outside, the crowd of mourners released pink and purple balloons, including some that read “Shae.”
Tasha Hymond, 39, was a makeup artist based in Fort Worth and ran her own beauty business, Slay by Shae.
She was one of the five victims who were killed in separate shootings during holiday celebrations on the night of July 4 in Fort Worth.
Hymond and her fiancee, Tommy Howard, were at his parents’ home that night when a block party of 200 to 300 people gathered outside on Castleman Street. Some people in the crowd shot fireworks at neighboring homes, according to Fort Worth police.
Howard believes the shooting began after drivers started doing donuts at the intersection of Castleman and Comanche Streets. Everybody outside began running and ducking, he said.
As Hymond was coming out of his mother’s home, the gunfire began and she was shot, he told the Star-Telegram.
Hymond’s cousin Tanisha Calhoun said she was originally going to celebrate the holiday with fireworks but she showed up to the block party last minute.
Hymond was a business owner, a mother, a sister, a cousin and a daughter who had no connection to violence, Calhoun said, and she didn’t deserve to die the way she did.
“We’re devastated, we’re hurt. It’s just an immense pain,” Calhoun said. “Her life ended because someone just shot a bullet and did not care where it went.”
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Fort Worth police have not announced any arrests, but homicide detectives have said they believe there were multiple shooters involved in the case.
The shooting on Castleman also killed 19-year-old Marcus Martin Jr. At least two other shooting victims were taken to hospitals, but were expected to survive, according to police.
A legacy of ‘love, laughter and joy’
Hymond’s father, Theodore Terry, says her loved ones and family are getting through thanks to support and prayer from friends.
“Everyone’s faith and everyone’s prayers. That’s what’s causing us to have unity, love and tranquility,” Terry said.
Her loved ones want Hymond to be remembered as a person encompassed with love and beauty.
“She made people feel beautiful. Her legacy will always be love, laughter and joy,” Calhoun said. “I want them to remember her as just the person who uplifted others.”
In her father’s eyes, Hymond will always be an angel.
“When you read about angels in the Bible, they’re firm in their business, but they’re always spreading love and unity. That was the person she was,” Terry said. “Her entire MO was to spread love within any room she goes into, to breathe tranquility, and to bring people together.”
Terry says the shooting was reflective of a major national issue: people resorting too quickly to use guns and deadly weapons.
“Our child was caught in the crossfires at the wrong time, at the wrong place. ... A parent should never have to bury their child,” Terry said. “Solving issues with guns does not solve issues.”
While the circumstances bringing the family together were a tragedy, Terry is choosing to look at it as an opportunity to celebrate his daughter’s life.
“We all can live her life, not only understanding the memories and the way she was, but also knowing the kind of person that she was as building a bridge of unity and friendship amongst people from all walks of life.”
Hymond’s wake comes just four days after a balloon release was held for 4-year-old Ivy Pierce and her sister 1-year-old Wynter Thouston, who were killed that same night in a shooting outside of the Crystal Clean Car Wash on West Cleburne Road. In that case, Fort Worth police arrested a suspect on capital murder and said he fired a rifle at a group of people after arguing with another man.
