PORT HURON, Mich. (WXYZ) — The family of a 17-year-old boy killed in an attack is speaking out. The victim's younger brother and sister remain hospitalized.
Port Huron police said their father, Jeff Smerer, was the attacker. He's in custody, but so far, he has not been criminally charged.
Watch Darren Cunningham's video report below:
The siblings were shot early Thursday morning at the Glenview Gardens Apartments.
Their aunt, Victoria Frazer, stopped by the apartments to retrieve some items for the Smerer family.
"The younger boy (Bentley) is off the ventilator. He's breathing on his own. They are going to try to have him get up and walk," she explained.
Frazer, who started a Gofundme for the family, said 13-year-old Bentley suffered facial fractures.
She said Kinzley, 12, suffered injuries that are more severe.
"The daughter (Kinzely), she does have a bullet lodged in the back of her spine. And she, they're saying she's going to be paralyzed from the neck down."
Sadly, their 17-year-old brother, Kayleb, was killed.
Watch our previous coverage about the incident below:
Police said the suspect's wife and 19-year-old son Ayden managed to stop the attack. Loved ones said there were no signs something like this would happen.
"He woke up, woke the kids up to go to school and ya know, it was a regular day and something just happened. It doesn't make sense," Frazer said.
"He was an amazing man," she described. "He was happy, outgoing."
However, they said Jeff Smerer had been having a hard time.
"Jeff was a good father. He did everything, bent over backwards for the family. Started having issues, searched out for medical help, ya know, mental help and didn't get what he needed. Seemed like he needed more support and he didn't get it," Lank Green, the Smerer's brother-in-law, explained.
Frazer said, "He had a stroke then he started having seizures after that. And that's why he ended up losing his job. I mean, he's always been a provider for his family but after that, he wasn't able to."
This year, he plead guilty to an indecent exposure incident from 2020. He was supposed to be sentenced the morning of the shooting.
His family didn't want to speak on it, but they say there is more to the story.
Smerer is expected to be arraigned on the fatal attack next Tuesday.
