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Rapper G$ Lil Ronnie killed alongside 5-year-old daughter in horrific shooting

‘We are shocked, appalled and deeply troubled by the senseless and violent events that occurred today’ said the owners of the car wash site where the pair were murdered

Madeline Sherratt
Tuesday 04 March 2025 17:19 GMT
A five-year-old girl and her father were shot dead in a targeted shooting just off a highway near Fort Worth, Texas, police said
A five-year-old girl and her father were shot dead in a targeted shooting just off a highway near Fort Worth, Texas, police said (Instagram)

A Texas rapper and his five-year-old daughter were shot dead in what authorities have described as a brazen “targeted shooting” in Dallas car wash on Monday morning.

Two gunmen are believed to have fired a round of bullets at the child, R’Mani, and her father, Ronnie Smith, 30, who is also known by his stage name, G$ Lil Ronnie, as they sat in a parked car at Slappy’s car wash, said the Forest Hill Police Department.

The gunmen approached the father and daughter in a white four-door Kia, exiting their vehicle just before opening fire. A video of the attack has spread on social media, it shows Smith attempting to draw the gunmen’s fire away from the car, running before being hit by the gunfire and falling to the ground.

A witness at the scene who called 911 told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth that they heard 20 to 30 gunshots.

Both Smith and his young daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. R’Mani just celebrated her fifth birthday a day previously.

The father and daughter were found dead at this car wash when authorities arrived
The father and daughter were found dead at this car wash when authorities arrived (CBS)

“He was a rapper. He didn’t bother nobody. He didn’t target nobody. He was a family man, and he was going around rapping, okay. Why would you target him?”, Smith’s aunt Stella Houston told Fox Dallas-Fort Worth.

Cleaning the car out, and somebody came through shooting and killed him and the baby. And a baby. His baby. A baby!,’ Houston added.

The rapper has three albums listed on Spotify and attracted over 40K listeners a month. Arguably his most well-known track is 2018’s Hoodframe Killuminati in which he collaborated with Go Yayo.

Smith’s daughter just celebrated her fifth birthday a day before the shooting, according to her family.

The two gunmen are described as Black males who wearing blue jeans and grey sweaters.

One of the suspects has already been identified and a warrant has been issued for a capital murder arrest, his identity has not been released.

Slappy’s car wash announced shortly after the incident that it would be closed for at least two days to assist with the investigation.

"We are shocked, appalled and deeply troubled by the senseless and violent events that occurred today," the car wash said in a statement, seen by CBS.

The double homicide is reportedly the fourth and fifth murders to have occurred in Forest Hill, Texas, this year alone.

The Independent contacted Forest Hill PD and Texas Rangers, who are said to be leading the investigation, for information.

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