DALLAS, Texas – The family of 33-year-old Joseph “JoJo” Premeaux says he went to Dallas this past weekend to celebrate a new baby in the family. Instead, they are now planning his funeral.
“He would light up the room,” his mother, Diana Premeaux, said. “He loved life. He loved family. He loved his kids and his wife.”
Premeaux’s wife, Valerie Flores Premeaux, described him as a devoted husband and father.
“He was a husband, he was a father. He was the provider, he was a protector, he was just a good guy,” she said. “He was very funny. He was loving. He loved us. He loved his family. And he would give the shirt off his back to anybody. He was just a good person.”
His sister, Reana Martinez, called him her “superman.”
“He was a very outstanding man. He took care of everybody that was around him,” she said. “He was a big goofball. He was always smiling. He walked in the room and he made the room bright.”
Premeaux leaves behind three children. Their youngest is just 8 years old.
“The bad part is like I don’t even know how to tell her. Like, because she’s autistic, she’s not gonna understand that her dad is gone,” said Flores.
The family says about 50 people, including children and pregnant women, were inside the baby shower when the shooting started.
“My brother’s on the ground and my cousin’s on the ground,” Martinez recalled. “And my niece was also shot in the ankle. Nobody deserves that from a baby shower.”
The family said Premeaux’s cousin is currently fighting for his life in the hospital.
Premeaux said the outpouring of support shows just how many lives her son touched.
“He was loved,” she said. “Every day people [are] calling me on Facebook and Instagram. It’s overwhelming me.”
According to Dallas Police, 21-year-old Jesus Torres was arrested on December 6 in connection with the shooting. Police say he was taken to the hospital for medical treatment and has since been booked into the Dallas County Jail and charged with murder.
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