What began as a weekend of celebration turned into a heartbreaking tragedy for a family in Forest Hills, Texas, near Ft. Worth. On Monday morning, March 3, rapper G$ Lil Ronnie, whose real name is Ronnie Smith, and his 5-year-old daughter were fatally shot at a car wash. The family had just celebrated the little girl’s birthday the day before.
Police arrived at Slappy’s Express Car Wash to find Smith’s car covered in bullet holes. Both he and his daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities believe two suspects, 21-year-old Jakobie Russel and 24-year-old Adonis Robinson, approached the vehicle, opened fire, and then fled. Police are still trying to determine the motive behind the shooting.
Stella Houston, Smith’s aunt, expressed her disbelief, saying she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to hurt him.
Both suspects have a history with the law. Russel, for instance, had a warrant out for his arrest in February 2025 related to a shooting that injured a man in Ft. Worth in December 2023. He had pled to a lesser charge earlier that year but failed to fulfill the conditions of his plea deal, which led to the warrant being issued. However, the warrant was recalled just a few days later, on February 18. Russel also pled guilty to assaulting a pregnant woman in January 2023.
Robinson also has convictions for sexual assault and a misdemeanor for failure to identify himself to authorities. In the case of the latter, he was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon but that charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.
It is unclear how G$ Lil Ronnie and the suspects knew each other if at all.
