Why a Forth Worth Man Trying to Protect the Kids in His Neighborhood is Now Facing Prison Time

It started with a whisper among neighborhood children in Texas— a stranger accused of making demands that no child should ever hear. While most people would have probably waited for the law to arrive, one man allegedly watched with a protective instinct that trumped everything else in the name of safety.

To the local prosecutor, Marckus Renfro is the man who allegedly took a loaded weapon and committed a violent felony at a south Fort Worth apartment complex. To his family and neighbors, however, he is the only reason their children slept soundly that night.

On Friday, Fort Worth police said officers had already been called to the 3700 block of Century Place after receiving reports of a man who was possibly under the influence, allegedly soliciting children for sex, Fox 10 Phoenix reported.

“We had already heard that a certain dude had been messing with other little kids around here,” Dontavius Williams, Renfro’s brother-in-law, alleged. That’s when witnesses said Renfro, 33, allegedly took matters into his own hands.

Renfro “exchanged some words” with the accused predator, Renfro’s wife Jamie Ramirez Renfro, said. “When Marckus was walking away, he just ran up on him, like he was trying to approach him, like to hurt him in some way,” she claimed.

Shortly after, a single gunshot rang out, according to CBS News. Jamie, per the outlet, admitted her husband shot the man in the groin who matched the suspect’s description. Police said the man, who was taken to the hospital, is expected to survive. Authorities have not released the name of the man Renfro allegedly shot.

As the wounded man undergoes treatment, Renfro faces a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. It’s a move his family is fiercely protesting, arguing that being the neighborhood hero shouldn’t be a crime.

“Don’t think he should have been arrested, because if a man’s going to approach a minor for soliciting for sex, to me, that’s a pedophile,” Jamie, who is 24 weeks pregnant, said.

The community believes the children, including Renfro’s underage nieces, were in danger and that Renfro’s alleged use of force was necessary. “Since I’ve been through a similar situation as well when I was younger, so I wish somebody would have done for me the way he did,” Jamie said.

Renfro is being held at the Tarrant County Jail without bond as the investigation is ongoing.