A Texas dad of six was brutally gunned down at his daughter’s high-school graduation party last week.
Adam Tobias, 35, was fatally shot on the front steps of a home on Santa Cecilia Lane in Houston around 4:15 a.m. Friday, ABC13 reported.
His daughter, Destiny — who called her father her “best friend” — “held her dad’s lifeless body in her arms,” said Tobias’s stricken wife, Neftaly Perez.
The suspected shooter, Philip Arning, 24, is the estranged boyfriend of Tobias’s former partner, the mom of Destiny, who was graduating.
The party was at the former partner’s house, and Arning allegedly began arguing about Tobias being there.
But “[Arning] shouldn’t have even been at the house,” Destiny said of the suspect, who was released on bond and is due to appear in court Tuesday.
“He wasn’t supposed to be at my house, and now he’s walking free, and my dad’s gone forever. And he’s walking like nothing ever happened,” Destiny said of Arning.
Perez said Destiny is traumatized by the tragedy.
“I’m sure she’s never going to get that out of her head,” she lamented.
Perez is Destiny’s stepmother and had been married to Tobias for 16 years. She and the couple’s five young sons were not present at the time of the shooting.
“I’m not going to be able to see my best friend, my only friend. I’m not going to hear his voice. I’m not going to get his kisses,” the grieving widow said.
“He was always there for his kids. No matter what.”
Destiny also described her father’s pride and the special moment they shared in the hours before his death.
“[He said], ‘I want to enjoy every moment with you. You deserve this party, and I’m so proud of you,’ ” she recalled.
Perez said Arning “cold-blooded shot” her husband.
” ‘Cause he didn’t even see it coming,” she said.
“I hope it eats you alive what you’ve done, what you’ve taken from us, from our family,” she said, addressing Arning.
A GoFundMe has been started to help the family cover funeral expenses. A benefit will also be held Saturday on McCarty Street.
