EXCLUSIVE: Man speaks out about murders of wife, sons in Gentilly

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) - The husband of the woman and father of the two boys killed in a quadruple shooting that left their sister critically injured said Wednesday that his only focus is his daughter recovering from her wounds.

Monique Smith, 30, and her two sons, Jumyrin Smith, 6, and Justin Simms Jr., 10, were found dead in their Gentilly home Friday morning.

Justin Simms, Smith's estranged husband, said he was nearly three hours away in Jackson, Mississippi, working his early morning shift on the back of a garbage truck. Simms said anyone who thinks he hurt his family has it all wrong.

"Nobody can ever say I harmed my wife or my kids. We're human and my wife and I we grew apart because she was into a life I wasn't into. Me, I'm more laid-back, I want to move to the country some woods somewhere with no neighbors. I just want to be peaceful, to live my life and take care of my kids," Simms said. "As far as the street running, the money and this and all that, they don't matter to me no more. The only thing that matters to me is my kids."

Simms said his daughter is slowly recovering after she was shot in the face during the attack, but now has trouble sleeping.

"She woke up crying one night asking me, 'Is this man going to come back Daddy?' I asked her, 'What man?' and she said, 'The man that did this to me.' I told her, 'No, he'll never see you again, never come close to you again.' Whoever this person is, I'm looking at this camera right now, I'm not coming after you, I'm gonna let God and Detective Givens take control of this," Simms said.

Now he just wants the people who continue to point fingers at him to know he's got his mind on one thing: his daughter.

"Nobody seen my face. They're wondering where I'm at and now you see where I'm at. I'm with my daughter, the only important person, the only important place I need to be right now is with my daughter in my daughter's company, because she needs me. Her everyday life is over," Simms said.

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