A loving parent, Corey Warmington focused on his kids. Tanyijah James, his older sister, told WWL Louisiana, "I just want to tell him I love him and that I am going to take care of his kids, every last one of them."
The 32-year-old loved fishing with his kids.
Ronisha Johnson, Warmington's daughter, stated, "He's only been working, fishing, and being about those kids, doing what he could do for those kids." "He did his best for what he could do for those kids."
She said, "I told my baby this morning, 'You have to be strong for your sister because your daddy would want you to be strong.' This is for an 8-year-old."
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said that a stray gunshot hit Warmington in his Bridge City apartment about 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
"Just a tragic situation to lose somebody so close to the new year and in such a tragic way," Sheriff Joe Lopinto said Tuesday at a press conference.
Lopinto stated, "We had a stolen vehicle earlier in the day, the owner ended up finding the vehicle in the 900 block of Beachgrove, contacted police they came and processed the vehicle."
He claimed the automobile owner was waiting while a new key was prepared. Lopinto stated the robbers returned and shot the car owner.
"In all likelihood, they were coming back to take the car and go someplace else," stated he.
Lopinto denied wrongdoing by Warmington.
James stated, "To see and hear a stray bullet hit him in the comfort of his own home as he was winding down, it's really tearing our family apart."
"The detachment is just so hard, forced detachment is crazy," he remarked. I love you 'Co', we'll stay together, and we'll keep your name alive. Bro, see you in heaven. Celebrate till we meet you in paradise."
After his family departed holding hands, Johnson pledged to honor him, adding, "Now all I could tell them was that it was an accident, but they don't know that your papa loved you and wanted to be there for you. Their father was here and is gone."
The suspects remain at large, according to JPSO. They want anyone who saw or knew something to come forward.
Young father killed by stray bullet in Bridge City
