18-year-old Joaquin Simmons was injured on March 29 when a shoe sale turned into a robbery. On April 2, the Woodward High School student passed away, according to a recent report from family members to 13 Action News.
He had just turned 18 and was scheduled to graduate from Woodward this year. Simmons, popularly known as Wak, sustained a severe brain injury after being pulled by a car, landing him in the ICU with critical injuries.
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According to his relatives, the teenager, who had a passion for fashion, frequently sold and arranged his clothing online via Facebook Marketplace.
According to Toledo Police reports, the incident occurred on Saturday, March 29, at approximately 4 p.m. when Simmons was trying to make a Facebook Marketplace sale at the 500 block of E. Oakland.
A member of Simmons’ family informed police that a dispute arose regarding the authenticity and cost of a pair of Balenciaga sneakers. That family member stated that she felt concerned about the meeting and photographed the suspect’s vehicle license plate.
The suspect car’s driver noticed her taking the photo, and that’s when the passenger snatched Simmons’ sneakers. He refused to let go of his shoes, and the driver of the suspect vehicle accelerated down the road.
As the car sped away, the 18-year-old reportedly started to struggle over the pair of shoes and kept clinging to the front seat passenger.
Simmons’ family member told detectives she saw the passenger grab the victim’s hair and strike him in the head with a gun. The car continued to accelerate as it headed down Mulberry toward Streicher, pushing him off.
“We seen them holding his hair and punching him and then they flung him from the car and it was going about 70 to 80 miles per hour,” the family member said.
Family members chased after the car. “His father ran down two blocks barefoot,” the family member said.
In search of surveillance footage of the incident, police went door to door after collecting evidence.
Three suspects were mentioned in the full police report, but they were all categorized as unknown and without any identifying information, the outlet said.
According to a separate TPD “unusual incident” report, a 16-year-old involved in the robbery was questioned in connection with the investigation. However, authorities said that the person was not charged and was released.
Police have since classified the incident as a homicide investigation.
