HOUSTON – A local community activist who has talked to several teens who attended recent house parties says teens have paid other teens to promote the parties on social media.
Three people died in the past two weeks after being shot at two parties attended by hundreds of people.
"You have some of these adolescent teens who are popular on campus receiving $100 to $200 just to promote the party," community activist Quanell X told Local 2 Investigates. "The popular kids have so many followers on Instagram and Facebook."
Social media helped the guest list top hundreds of people at a party overnight Friday where a teen was shot and killed in southwest Houston.
About a week prior, two teens were killed and nearly two dozen were injured when rival gangs got into a disagreement at a house party south of Cypress.
Quanell X says while the last two incidents are on people's minds, there have been other shootings and murders at teen parties including another in southwest Houston in March of 2012 where police say more than 1,000 teens attended.
Quanell X says parents often give teens money to promote the parties. Parents often attend.
Parents rarely get arrested even when someone dies at the party because it's hard to prove parents could have anticipated murder, Local 2 legal analyst Brian Wice said.
"Unless there is some nexus or some foreseeability between the tragedy and mom and dad's conduct, mom and dad may find themselves in civil court. They probably won't find themselves in criminal court," Wice said.
Quanell X suggests parents snoop on their teens' social media pages to see what parties they have been invited to and are talking about.
Parents who can log into their child's Facebook accounts can see what events their teen has RSVP'd to by clicking on "Events" on the left hand side of the profile screen.
Do you snoop on your teen's online activity? How do you do it? Secretly? Openly? Tips for parents? Interact with @JaceLarson in the comments section of this story.