Loved ones remember slain college student on 20th birthday

DALLAS - Tuesday should have been a day of celebration for a young man from Dallas preparing to start his sophomore year in college.

But instead, those who knew and loved 19-year-old Patrick Powell gathered at the Miller Family Park where he was shot and eventually died in a hospital.

Two teens, a 13- and 14-year-old, are in custody. But the case is moving slowly.

Friends and family and college classmates held a vigil Tuesday where Patrick was shot to mark what would have been his twentieth birthday.

It was at the park last Wednesday night that Patrick was playing basketball with a cousin. Police say he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when a car load of teenagers drove by, and shots were fired. Police say they don't believe he was the intended target.

Dallas police reported the day after the shooting that several juveniles were detained in connection with his shooting. The two teenagers are in custody at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.

FOX 4 has learned that the district attorney's office has not yet filed formal charges against either as of Tuesday.

Because they're juveniles, details about who was driving, how they got the gun and the car and who they intended to shoot are not being released.

The district attorney’s top prosecutor says charges will be filed soon. But until then, no court date has been assigned.

Patrick was about to be a sophomore at Jarvis Christian College. Friends and family say he was a good kid and a good student who'd won a scholarship from his church, Greater Community First Baptist. He was a junior deacon there.

“It’s a big loss to me because I’m gonna miss my baby,” said Patrick’s grandmother, Alene. “Today is his birthday. He would’ve turned 20 years old. I have serious questions, but I don’t have no answers.”

Alene says the juveniles and their parents should be held accountable for Patrick’s murder.

“If they charge the kids, charge the parents,” she said. “It had to be somebody’s car and somebody’s gun. It sure wasn’t theirs.”

Family and friends will have another prayer vigil and balloon release at Patrick's church on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Patrick's wake will be held Friday night. His funeral will be on Saturday at noon at his church.