Man, 22, slain after argument over noise

The noise would wake his babies up at night FORT WORTH -- A simmering dispute between north Fort Worth neighbors over loud music and late-night partying ended early Saturday when one homeowner fatally shot the other with a shotgun, police said. Joseph Rosier, 41, is accused of shooting James Eckenrode, 22, about 2:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Darlington Trail in a subdivision off Bailey-Boswell Road, police said. Rosier, who neighbors said is married with two children, was being held in the Tarrant County Jail on suspicion of murder. Bail had not been set. Read more

[Joan]

This is a heart breaking reality! Not only for Jimmy's family (especially for his mother) but for Joseph Rosier's family (he's going to prison!) Who would do something this final, this mean spirited, this senseless, over loud music. Jimmy was 22 years old, and as I understand it, one of the youngest homeowners in the community. Jimmy was doing what a lot of 22 year old young adults do, have a party! The police were called, told them to turn the music down and left. Within minutes, Rosier was at Jimmy's house with a shot gun, with the premeditated intention to shoot and kill this young man. He shot him not once, not twice, but three times! Then struck his girlfriend in the head as she knelt over Jimmy's dying body telling her to let him die. I seriously hope that justice will be served in this case and that Rosier will not be able to use the plea of temporary insanity. He PREMEDITATED this murder. Please pray for the ECKENRODE family.

[anonymous]

The truth is Joan, neither of us were there when it happened and we certainly can't come to conclusions by reading what the media tells us about the situation. Two things that are not stated in most articles on this incident are that Jimmy had a gun too and that the shooting happened in the middle of the Rosier's lawn (not Eckenrode's lawn!). I do agree it is a very sad situation for BOTH sides for sure! I feel like the public was let down by the FWPD, because the fact is they had been called out at least 13 times in 3 mths to the Eckenrode residence by multiple neighbors, not just the Rosiers. Why can't the police be more proactive rather than reactive?!?
My heart goes out to all who are affected from this tragedy.

[Local Resident]

Joan, you are an idiot. Learn to read all the facts from as many sources as possible before creating your OWN version of the news. My cousin was one of James' best friends and in my opinion the thug had it coming. I feel sorry for Mr. Rosier and his family. I can only assume he was pushed as far as he could be pushed before finally snapping. James Eckenrode and all his friends are nothing but drug taking and drug dealing hoodlums. James had a handgun too and I can only hope that the facts and evidence look kindly on Mr. Rosier's behalf. The police dropped the ball yet again.

[Happy Reader]

I think this is freakin' awesome. I hate it when people use the excuse

"Oh, they're young and that's what young people do."

That doesn't make it ok. Young people also beat up homeless people and video tape it, but that doesn't make it ok. Young people have absolutely no respect for others around them and I'm surprised more people don't do this. Maybe young people will get the hint to be more respectful if some of their friends get killed for doing something stupid.

I hate it when I'm sitting in my house trying to relax and some stupid teenager drives by booming their music much louder than it needs to be.

They only need to have the music loud enough for them to hear. No one else cares how cool they think they are because their radio can go loud and they're not impressing any body.

I say Rosier deserves a standing ovation. Bravo!

[Soni]

No excuse for killing the man. What psycho kills a guy over loud music? Give me a break, I hope he gets the death penalty.

[Tracy]

You know what it takes a real piece of crap to say anyone deserves to die of something so stupid like music. Yea James might have been wrong to have his music blaring so loudly, but he did not deserve to die for it. No one would. I bet you would think differently if it had been you brother, son, dad, best friend, daughter, wife, mom, husband, or anyone you remotly care about laying where Jimmy does now. So maybe you morons should think before you speak cuz Jimmy's family had to read this it would just make the situation harder to deal with for them. Why can't you people be kind enough to respect the families of the parties involved rather than make rude and crude comments about them?

[nicole]

The facts are what they are : Jimmy was killed over music. I lived in that neighborhood before. My parents have had the cops called on them before nine oclock on a saturday for noise. jimmy also had a family and if any pictures were shown of his girlfriend it would be hard to argue that this man was in any way justifiable. and to miss local resident up there...if your kids really were friends with JIMMY then you would know that he was a good guy. so was his brother. they really werent the hoodlums you think they are.

[Local Resident]

I only know what I've heard about the James kid from my cousin, and that's that he was a lying, stealing, con-artist, drug-dealing thug who also got high every chance he could. Just like my cousin. It's a wonder my cousin is still alive. Probably because of most of the jail time he has spent. James was a punk. He looked for trouble. He dared you to talk back to him. He would try to stare you down. Why do you think he went back ON TO MR. ROSIER'S PROPERTY WITH A STOLEN HANDGUN!?!

Tragic? Yes. Did he have it coming? Of course.

Not only did his parents drop the ball, but so did the police with that community.

And Nicole.. I'm finding it hard to understand what you're trying to say. Are you trying to compare playing music at 9pm on a Saturday to what James did on a consistent basis? And why would looking at pictures of his girlfriend not make it justifiable? Are you trying to say she was pretty? Only only people deserve to die? I really missed your point on that one.

I never said any of this was justifiable, and that's going to be sad for Mr. Rosier and his family; all I'm saying is the thug had it coming. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He lived by the sword and he died by the sword.

[sean]

it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of jimmy. the fact is that some idiot thought that taking jimmy's life was the right response to him playing loud music. so what if it was on a consistent basis. he does not deserve to die over this. jimmy was not a "thug" or a "punk." jimmy would do anything and everything for the people he loved. jimmy will always be missed and loved by those who knew him.

[Anon]

Why do people feel like they must believe everything the media prints?? They interview Jimmy's brother, who wasn't even present at the time of the shooting, who is emotional of his brother's death and run with what he says happened. Jimmy loaded a gun and went onto his neighbor's property telling him he was going to kill him so he got shot first. If Rosier hadn't shot first then there would be another tragic story of a widowed mother of two kids because of a punk kid high on drugs and alcohol had an illegal handgun and no common sense. He didn't get shot because of loud music but because he had a gun and stated he was going to use it.

The fact is that Jimmy had a flagrant disregard for anyone else living around him. He consistently had out of control parties with people coming and going all hours of the night. Broken beer bottles everwhere. Drunken people urinating on other peoples houses. If I wanted to live with that then I would move to a Frat house not a middle class neighborhood in Fort Worth.

I still say it is a shame that the FWPD did not handle this situation correctly. There was so obviously a problem when multiple people complain about one neighbor.

[jassir]

I WAS THERE! I THINK IF YOU WERENT THERE ALL YOU SHOULD BE DOING IS PRAYING FOR BOTH PARTIES INVOLVED FOR FORGIVENESS. AS I RECALL I DONT EVEN REMEMBER MUSIC PLAYING THAT LOUD! THE REASON THE IDIOT NEIGHBOR BROUGHT OUT A GUN WAS BECAUSE HE STARTED ARGUING WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS OUTSIDE && DECIDED HIS GUN SPOKE BETTER THAN HIS WORDS. SO HE WENT INSIDE && GRABBED IT. ONCE HE DID THAT HE PUT ALL OF US IN DANGER.

[Anonymous]

Dear Nicole:

You commented that this Jimmy was a good guy. The last time I checked a "good guy" doesn't get a girl pregnant, then have nothing to do with his own child. Yeah, sounds like a real good guy. I'm not saying he deserved to die, but definitely way far off from being a good guy. Just a little testament to his character.

[James]

I think this is freaking' awesome. I hate it when people use the excuse
"Oh, they're young and that's what young people do."
That doesn't make it ok. Young people also beat up homeless people and video tape it, but that doesn't make it ok. Young people have absolutely no respect for others around them and I'm surprised more people don't do this. Maybe young people will get the hint to be more respectful if some of their friends get killed for doing something stupid.
I hate it when I'm sitting in my house trying to relax and some stupid teenager drives by booming their music much louder than it needs to be.
They only need to have the music loud enough for them to hear. No one else cares how cool they think they are because their radio can go loud and they're not impressing any body.
You people have no idea what your talking about...sure some people do stupid things in their past.....but who doesn't...Jimmy just got a new house, a good job and a family...no man deserves to die like this...especially over some music...if
anyone kills another over something like this than that clearly states that they either A.You are a moron...B. are psychopath...or both...he has kids too and now i hope he never sees his again...I didnt hang out with Jimmy as often as my family did but he was...and forever will be a great person...all i can say is...."i'm glad texas has a death penalty"....

[James saginaw tx]

You people have no idea what your talking about...sure some people do stupid things in their past.....but who doesn't...Jimmy just got a new house, a good job and a family...no man deserves to die like this...especially over some music...if
anyone kills another over something like this than that clearly states that they either A.You are a moron...B. are psychopath...or both...he has kids too and now i hope he never sees his again...I didnt hang out with Jimmy as often as my family did but he was...and forever will be a great person...all i can say is...."i'm glad texas has a death penalty"....

[pissed off]

First of all, Jimmy didnt deserve to die. I grew up with him and his family and love them all dearly. Sure, it wasnt right of jimmy to play his music so loud but it was no reason to shoot him. My father is an officer for fwpd and said that from the report, jimmy never even raised his gun. The shooting apparently happened in the middle of both lawns and the police werent sure whos property it was. Jimmys neighbor didnt shoot in self defense, self defense is one shot to stop someone from harming you.No three shots, and with one to the head, why did he keep shooting? I also had the chance to see his girlfriend who looks like she was in a bad car accident. She's got two black eyes and a huge gash in her head. Are you going to tell me that was self defense. I hope that justice is served whatever the courts decide that will be. Jimy wasnt perfect but nobody is and nobody deserves to die like that, I dont care who you are. I just pray for his whole family and for the rosier family who now has to live with the fact that their father and husband will probably go to prison for murder and you cant ever take that back.

[Roger]

pissed off wrote:

First of all, Jimmy didnt deserve to die. I grew up with him and his family and love them all dearly. Sure, it wasnt right of jimmy to play his music so loud but it was no reason to shoot him. My father is an officer for fwpd and said that from the report, jimmy never even raised his gun. The shooting apparently happened in the middle of both lawns and the police werent sure whos property it was. Jimmys neighbor didnt shoot in self defense, self defense is one shot to stop someone from harming you.No three shots, and with one to the head, why did he keep shooting? I also had the chance to see his girlfriend who looks like she was in a bad car accident. She's got two black eyes and a huge gash in her head. Are you going to tell me that was self defense. I hope that justice is served whatever the courts decide that will be. Jimy wasnt perfect but nobody is and nobody deserves to die like that, I dont care who you are. I just pray for his whole family and for the rosier family who now has to live with the fact that their father and husband will probably go to prison for murder and you cant ever take that back.

You are a fool. I knew Jimy also and he was gay and a crack head. He will not be missed. He was also dumb because he couldn't even spell his first name. It should be Jimmy.

[Anonymous]

I don't know how to feel about this situation. I feel very sorry for Mr. Eckenrode's family as well as Mr. Rosier's family.

I've tried to see this from both sides and I hate to say that I can see how Mr. Rosier would become extremely fed up with constant parties every weekend. Parties that were less than 10 feet from his windows, waking up his toddler and infant children, himself and his wife night after night after night for months.

I can see that, threatened by young drunk adults, he would fear for his family and not wait for Mr. Eckenrode to shoot first. After all, threats had been made on the other side of the yard. I can see how Mr. Rosier did not want to wait to see if his neighbor was just blowing smoke or really was capable of murder.

When you threaten a persons life and you have a weapon in your hand... it can't be all that surprising when someone decides to shoot first.

It really is senseless.

It is a shame that the police didn't take more action long before this happened. I understand that the police had been called 13 times in 3 months to this house due to the constant noise. I understand that neighbors even tried to resolve this issue with the Home Owners Association.

I have a family of my own and if they were threatened and a gun was there to show exactly how serious that threat could be... I may have done the exact same thing. Especially as fed up as Mr. Rosier must have been for such a long time... with this party house... and the police.

[pissed off]

roger, you are obviously thinking of the wrong person. I dont know why you would say that jimmy was gay or a crack head if you knew him like you say you did. You werent at his funeral, it was packed. Jimmy will be missed and left a ton of friends behind. Its a tragedy for anybody to die the way that he did and you shouldnt say things like that when you obviously dont know what you're talking about.

[Friend Fort Worth Tx]

I think that all you people sitting here saying jimmy deserved to die should all rot ib hell. Im sure you all think you knew what went on over there because of what you "read" in the news paper. I Have known Jimmy for over 13 years and he has always been kind to his friends and loved ones. If the neighbor hated jimmy so much then why was he friends with him? Why did he go over and talk and hangout with jimmy? No one sees these things beacause yall have no idea! Yea jimmy had a temper but everyone does...those of you writting those mean and ignorate things have tempers too because guess what you are human just like anyone else. You say he deserved to die, but if it were one of your friends or family members you would feel alittle diffrently wouldnt you? And for the handgun it was registered and not stolen also found in jimmys effing pocket you idiots..so tell me how was that self defense. As for hitting the girlfirend...was that a must? Do yall even know why she was hit? Do yall even get the facts before you run your mouth about something you have no clue about? No! The girlfriend bent down to hold jimmy after he had been shot and the nrighbor told her to get away from him..to let him die and she refused thats why she was struck. Self defense isnt shooting someone three times once in the head , in the chest and in the groin.Those of you putting Anonymous, are too ashamed to put your real names you know its wrong either way. As far as not seeing his child Thats the mothers fault beacuse she is crazy..but if you knew what you were talking about im sure you would also know that. I hope those of you who say the neighbor was right in his action never have to grieve the way we are today and if you do i hope someone writes forums , not knowing the whole story , saying they deserved it as yall are doing.

[Anonymous]

Friend Fort Worth Tx wrote:

Those of you putting Anonymous, are too ashamed to put your real names you know its wrong either way.

Your name is ALSO anonymous.