A young Austin musician was carjacked at gunpoint in Houston.
Violinist Ruby Jane Smith has played with Willie Nelson, Asleep at the Wheel and entertained a crowd at the Grand Ole Opry, and she's only 17-years-old. Now every instrument, every piece of equipment Smith relied on is gone at the hands of a Houston carjacker.
Smith and her mother are staying with friends after losing nearly everything Thursday night. The Smiths had just finished a show in Houston when a carjacker put a gun in their faces. After taking jewelry, IDs and more than $50,000 of music equipment, the man drove off in their only car.
The Smith family is working with Houston police and relying on donations to continue Smith's concert schedule.
"For this one person to have committed this one act, I mean all of these events that have sprung from that. All of these things that we've lost and had to do -- had to get new drivers' licenses, have to figure out how to get a new car," Smith said. "It's just a huge loss."
The biggest loss of all is something that Smith cannot put a price on -- a custom made violin by one of the country's finest violin craftsmen.
