Royale D'Von Smith Jr.

He held his hands to her stomach, feeling the movements of his future child within. What was now just an embryo would soon have tiny hands and curly locks mirroring his own.

He “was my everything,” his girlfriend would say. “I went to him for everything. He was my go-to. Even though I was older, he taught me so much.”

Royale D’Von Smith Jr., 18, was killed in a drive-by shooting after a friend’s birthday party in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 5, 2018. Five months later, his girlfriend found out they were having a little baby boy. “Royale prolly mad,” she said, laughing. “He wanted a girl.”