Who was Carth Osani Jacobs-Rodgers? Teen killed in Las Vegas First Friday shooting remembered as 'goofball'

The family of 15-year-old Carth Osani Jacobs-Rodgers has spoken out after he was shot and killed in the Arts District during First Friday.

Published on: Oct 5, 2026, 13:00:01 IST

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The family of a 15-year-old boy has spoken out after he was shot and killed Friday night, October 2, in the Arts District during First Friday. Carth Osani Jacobs-Rodgers’ family described him as a “goofball,” according to 8 News Now.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said that a fight broke out between teenagers near South Main Street and Charleston Boulevard just after 10:15 p.m. on Friday. Shots rang out and three victims were struck by gunfire and hospitalized. Jacobs-Rodgers’ parents said he died after being rushed to University Medical Center.

Who was Carth Osani Jacobs-Rodgers?

James and Tara Mesaric-Rodgers said they were Jacobs-Rodgers legal guardians, explaining that he was the son of James’ ex-wife. The couple helped raise him and were granted full custody of him in 2020.

“Like any teenage boy, he wasn’t perfect,” James said. “He got into trouble. Did some dumb stuff. I had to go and take him out of juvie a couple of times for being past curfew or something. I’m like, ‘Dude, we talked about this.’ I know that he was a really good big brother.”

The couple said his younger sisters loved him very much.

“And he loved them,” James said. “He was a goofball. He knew how to make them laugh.”

“He was sweet,” Tara said. “He was smart. He knew how to outsmart anybody. There’s times where you’re just dumbfounded.”

Recalling the tragedy, James said, “We had seen a post about it already, and something told me to check his location. So, I checked his phone’s location, and it was down there, and I sent him a text. The text didn’t go through, and not more than a few minutes after I sent that text, I got a phone call, and I got down to UMC as quick as possible.”

The couple said that when they were called to the front desk, they feared the worst.

“At the time, we didn’t know, but the coroner was waiting for us, and took us into the quiet room and the waiting room,” the couple said. “And as soon as we went in there, we knew. And we didn’t want to believe it. As soon as I saw all the badges.”

“The world stops spinning,” Tara said. “Breaths taken out of your chest. You just kind of want to be like, ‘Wake up. It’s not real.’”

The couple said that they blame the person who brought the gun.

“First Friday has been around for years, you know, like I remember going there as a teenager, you know. It’s all just about partisan and homemade stuff and vendors and just fun. And at that age, doing what we did, just walking around, hanging out with your friends in a public setting,” James said. “We were broke. We didn’t do anything. We just walked around and hung out to look at stuff. It’s like any local who’s grown up here has done it.”

James and Tara said that they did not have any prior concerns with their son being out at First Friday past curfew. Sometimes, his sisters would accompany him.

“We’ve let our daughters go with him the past couple of months,” James said. “Our older daughters, the ones who are teenagers themselves. They went with him the past couple of months, and they always just said how much fun they had and they had a good time. They got to hang out with their brother and his friends. I would go and pick them up from the same spot every time. They were always, including him, on time, never late. And all three of them would get in the car. We’d go home.”

James added that the curfew in place for unaccompanied minors is somewhat ineffective if not enforced properly.

“Let’s all be honest, right? How many teenagers are going to listen to the curfew? Even with law enforcement actively out there, how many are actually going to listen? Plus, the officers are only going to be able to arrest so many for the same thing,” James said.

“I don’t want to see First Friday disbanded,” Tara said. “It’s been a Vegas thing for years, but they need to, especially being close to Fremont; it needs to have better safety protocols. It’s not even just teenagers there. There are people who bring their young children. So, I don’t think adult supervision is really gonna do anything because then they can take that as ‘Oh, I have an 18-year-old friend. That’s an adult.'” We gotta do better. The whole society. We all need to just do better.”

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