FORT WORTH, Texas – A man is in the custody of Fort Worth police after being accused of shooting another man in the groin. His family claims he was protecting his underage nieces from a man allegedly soliciting them for sex.
Fort Worth man arrested
Markus Renfro, 33, is in jail Saturday. His family members are explaining why he shot another man in the groin, and why they don’t think he deserves to be in jail.
Dontavius Williams, Renfro’s brother-in-law, says he knew something wasn’t right.
What they’re saying:
“My little cousin told me that the dude said, ‘Oh, come back and smoke some meth with me,’ you know, ‘have some drugs,’” Williams said.
The family said this wasn’t the first time.
Fort Worth police say officers had already been called to the 3700 block of Century Place on Friday morning after receiving reports of a man who was possibly under the influence soliciting children for sex.
“We had already heard that a certain dude had been messing with other little kids around here,” Williams said.
That’s when they say Renfro stepped in.
How family says it happened
“They exchanged some words,” Markus’ wife, Jamie Ramirez Renfro, said. “When Markus was walking away, he just ran up on him, like he was trying to approach him, like to hurt him in some way.”
As officers arrived, they heard a gunshot.
“And then he said something to Markus, and then he turned around, and Markus shot,” Jamie said.
Police say they then found the man who matched the suspect’s description with a gunshot wound in the groin. Police say the man was taken to the hospital and expected to survive. Renfro was taken into custody.
Police haven’t confirmed
The police have not confirmed this version of events. But for this family, there’s no question about why it happened.
“Don’t think he should have been arrested, because if a man’s going to approach a minor for soliciting for sex, to me, that’s a pedophile,” said Jamie.
They believe the children were in danger and that his use of force was necessary.
Jamie, who is 24 weeks pregnant, says the impact goes beyond the moment.
“Since I’ve been through a similar situation as well when I was younger, so I wish somebody would have done for me the way he did,” Jamie said.
What’s next:
Investigators are working to determine exactly what happened.
Renfro is being held at the Tarrant County Jail with no bond set at the time of publishing.
The Source: Information in this article comes from the Fort Worth Police Department and FOX 4 interviews with residents.