Brothers survive drive-by shooting in northwest Houston

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The bond between Demontrez Smith, and his little brother has always been strong.

Now, it's been made even stronger, after rounds of gunfire nearly took their lives.

Smith, who is 21, was walking home with his 15 year old brother, Kareeba Avery-Singleton early Friday evening. Kareeba is in the Booker T Washington marching band.

As an alumnus, Smith was practicing with the band in preparation for Saturday's TSU homecoming parade. They had just left the campus after band practice.

The brothers, and another friend had left the campus, and were across the street when a white SUV drove up, and a passenger got out, and opened fire.

Smith was shot in his shoulder, but even then, he was looking out for his brother.

"When they started shooting, I thought they were firecrackers. I took a step back and then my brother pushed me," said Singleton, who's an A and B sophomore at Booker T.

What he didn't realize is that Smith had already been shot in the shoulder, when he came to the aid of his brother. "He was making sure I didn't get hurt worse," said Singleton.

He was still struck once, in the hip. A 21-year-old friend walking with them was shot in the thigh.

Darius Montel Hubbard, the accused shooter, was wounded too, when a bystander across the street opened fire.

He was arrested, and is now charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It is his fourth arrest in the past two years.

Smith said he knew Hubbard when they were in the ninth grade. "Are you going to tell me you didn't get over something that happened years ago, and come and do this," he asked.

Both brothers are recovering, but for the 15 year old, missing the TSU event was a big disappointment. "I was going to be marching with my friends and my brother," he said.

Chakesha Boykins is their grateful and relieved mother, who says neither she, nor her children, have never been around guns.

"I'm a strict parent," she said, and she blames the parents of the shooter for not keeping their son on the right path.

"We come from a praying family, and I'm a praying mother," she said.

"I'm praying now for a speedy recovery, and that they get over the trauma that this has caused."