Family in shock after Fort Worth father fatally stabbed outside youth track meet
A Fort Worth family was left reeling after a father of four was fatally stabbed outside a youth track meet on May 21.
Quintus Record, 40, was a loving father who was known for his goofiness and total support of his children, said his daughters McKenzie Record, 19, and Destinye Record, 21.
“He was a really, really good dad,” Destinye said. “He supported us and our dreams and the things that we wanted to do. He stood behind us.”
He always attended Destinye’s son’s football games and was active in his kids’ hobbies and extracurriculars. The night he was killed, Record was doing the same thing for a friend’s daughter after the friend passed away. On May 21, he and other family members attended the girl’s youth school track meet at Clark Stadium, at 5201 CA Roberson Blvd.
Inside the stadium, a fight broke out within a group of people, according to a Fort Worth police arrest warrant affidavit. Two people, Cedric Smith Jr. and Kedric Smith, were involved in the fight and said they were going to call their dad, a witness told police. Another fight took place inside, and body cam footage showed Cedric Smith Jr. and Kedric Smith fighting with one group of people while their father, Cedric Smith Sr., fought with Quintus Record, according to the police affidavit.
Cedric Smith Jr. and Kedric Smith were removed from the stadium for fighting, witnesses told police.
As Record was walking out of the track meet with family members, the Smiths’ dad, Cedric Smith Sr., approached him, the affidavit says. He told Record he had come to protect his sons. Record replied that Cedric Smith Jr. had started the fight inside with some of Record’s family members, according to the affidavit.
The group started to argue, the affidavit said, and Cedric Smith Jr. started to physically attack Record in the parking lot. Record put him into a headlock. As they were fighting, Cedric Smith Sr. grabbed a pocket-style knife and stabbed Record, according to the affidavit. The Smiths ran to their cars and drove away, witnesses told police.
Record flagged down a black car driven by a family member, who drove him to the hospital.
When Destinye got the phone call that her dad was in the hospital, her heart dropped and she rushed to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital to see him.
“I honestly thought he would pull through, just because of the person he is,” she said. “And when the doctors came out and they gave me the news, I just lost it. I broke down. I lost everything.”
Record died at 10:06 pm. from his injuries, Destinye said.
She had seen her dad only a few hours before at her grandma’s house, where the two talked outside after he got off work. She and her sister, McKenzie, said they are still in shock from his death.
McKenzie was out of town when her father was taken to the hospital. Her sister told her what happened and that doctors were performing surgery on their dad. McKenzie texted her, but didn’t hear back. Her gut told her something very bad had happened.
“She called me and told me,” McKenzie said. “I dropped to my knees and was praying. I was in total shock about it. I thought, I have to hear his voice, this can’t be real.”
Cedric Smith Sr., 46, was arrested and charged with murder on June 2. An attorney was not listed for Smith, and he was not able to be reached for comment.
Three days later, on June 5, the Record family held a balloon release in honor of what would have been Quintus Record’s 41st birthday.
McKenzie’s favorite memory of her dad was when he helped her move into her freshman-year dorm. After the long day, he fell asleep in her bed.
“I’m still in shock to this day,” Destinye said. “I’m trying to recover and grieve from it. But it’s just unexpected.”
A family member confronted the Smiths when she ran into them at a liquor store, the affidavit says — she told police she had known the Smith family for 25 years. She asked Cedric Smith Sr., “Why would you take a knife to a fist fight, and you knew who you were stabbing,” the affidavit says. Smith Sr. replied that, he “did not go up there to kill him, I didn’t mean to kill him,“ according to the affidavit.
