Layla Williamson, a 19-year-old woman from Austin, was fatally shot during a chaotic confrontation outside Bare Cabaret in northeastern Travis County during the early morning hours of July 5, 2026. Authorities have not publicly confirmed her race or ethnicity. The shooting unfolded in the nightclub’s crowded parking lot in the 9700 block of Reservoir Court, near U.S.
Highway 290, as hundreds of people gathered during the Fourth of July weekend.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Office began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting gunfire at approximately 3:54 a.m. Investigators said an altercation in the parking lot escalated until multiple shots were fired. Nearly 400 people were reportedly inside the club or gathered outside when deputies arrived, leaving emergency personnel to confront a disorderly scene filled with potential witnesses, vehicles and people attempting to leave.
Deputies found Williamson suffering from gunshot wounds and provided emergency assistance before she was transported to a hospital. She was pronounced dead from her injuries shortly after 5 a.m. A second victim, VT Wood-Davion Olden Hornsby, was found at the scene and pronounced dead there. Officials later said the people involved in the confrontation were believed to have known one another, although authorities have not publicly explained the relationship between Williamson, Hornsby and the alleged shooters or disclosed what initially caused the dispute.
A person of interest was detained during the first hours of the investigation while deputies interviewed witnesses and worked to secure the enormous crime scene. That individual was later released without being charged. Detectives continued gathering surveillance recordings, cellphone footage and witness statements as they attempted to reconstruct the fight and determine who fired the fatal shots.
Several days later, investigators identified James Mackeise Shearrion and Kevin Curtis Parrish as suspects. Arrest warrants charged both men with murder of multiple persons, an offense classified as a capital felony under Texas law. Parrish was subsequently taken into custody and booked into the Travis County Jail on July 11. Earlier reporting indicated he already had several active cases involving allegations such as unlawfully carrying a weapon, possession of a prohibited weapon and evading arrest.
Shearrion remained wanted in the most recent publicly available reports. Authorities warned that anyone who encountered him or knew his location should contact law enforcement rather than approach him. The sheriff’s office also indicated that the investigation was continuing and that additional warrants could be issued, suggesting detectives were still evaluating whether other people participated in the gunfire or helped those accused afterward.
Williamson’s father, Antwan Williamson, remembered his daughter as an energetic presence who could light up a room and make people feel that a celebration had begun when she arrived. He said she appeared to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and pleaded for the public to remember that she was more than another homicide statistic. She was a daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend whose family was left seeking both answers and justice.
The criminal proceedings remain at an early stage. The capital-murder allegations are accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. No trial or conviction has been reported, and investigators have not released a complete account of which suspect allegedly fired which shots or whether Williamson was deliberately targeted.
