Tyree Smith's legacy lives on 3 years after his murder as his mother empowers others

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Sunday marks three years since the murder of Tyree Smith, a 16-year-old boy killed before daylight at a school bus stop in west Louisville.

The homicide shocked the community’s conscious so much then-Mayor Greg Fischer attended his funeral offering a proclamation. The Eastern High School student was known as a hard worker with a playful sense of humor. Loved ones said he was not the intended target.

"It's rough because you always think about the day that changed your whole life,” Tyree’s mother Sherita Smith said as she sat in a garden near 25th street and Standard Avenue. "Grief is hard. I can say that. It's messy. You never know what side you're going to wake up on that day.”

Two other kids, a 13-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl were also at the bus stop at West Chestnut and Dr. W.J. Hodge streets and survived after being shot.

Suspects, Mekhi Cable and Demaurion Moore were back in court this week. They were juveniles when they were arrested in the drive-by attack. The court set a February trial date but Smith fears it will be delayed as new defense attorneys were just assigned to their cases.

Sherita Smith - The Ace Project 7-12-24 — Sherita Smith, whose son Tyree Smith, was shot and killed at his school bus stop in 2021, said The Ace Project gives her a sense of purpose. (WDRB photo/July 12, 2024)

"Stress," Smith said. "Yeah, yeah, it is (exhausting), it is. And there is a lot of things that I don't like about how court is going."

It's why she finds herself back in the garden where Tyree's name joins many more written on rocks behind the Ace Project's home base. The Louisville nonprofit helps survivors who've lost loved ones to gun violence.

"Do not let your pain be wasted," ACE Founder Rose Smith said. "That's what I tell them."

She’s not related to Sherita but bonded in through common ground. Rose Smith launched the ACE project in honor of her son Cory “Ace” Crowe. He was killed in Louisville in October of 2014 and the case remains unsolved.

‘We got to court hearings with mothers, we have the young entrepreneurs helping kids start their own businesses. We do a lot.” Rose Smith said. “ I'm here for you and here is a no judgment zone, and it's okay if you’re not okay.”

Tyree’s mother jumped into the cause giving leadership to ACE’s “surviving sisters” program. It’s mostly moms who dealt with the loss of a child.

The crime that shocked the conscious of Louisville in 2021 when Tyree died is becoming more common as city reports show 39 people under the age of 18 have died by gun violence since.

"My shirt says it all. We're working with the hand we were dealt," Smith said.

She's honoring her son anyway she can.

In addition to the criminal case there is also a pending lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools in relation to the bus stop shooting claiming the district did not do enough to warn parents and protect students from prior dangers at the stop.