Overcome with emotion, family and friends held a candlelight vigil Thursday night outside the home where 12-year-old Tequila Forshee was shot and killed.
She was inside her grandmother's Miami Gardens home when bullets flew through a window late Wednesday night.
"We've got a lot of Trayvons out here," said Glenn Forshee, Tequila's dad said. "We've got a lot of black on black crime. We've got a lot of ignorant BS, and we ain't standing for the BS."
The shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of 42nd Avenue and 201st Street when a gunman or gunmen opened fire on the home, Miami Gardens Police spokesman Det. Mike Wright said.
2 In Custody After Apparent Molotov Cocktail Attack: Miami Police
According to Wright, officers discovered the girl shot inside the home. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The girl's grandmother, Tawanda Frazier-Brown, was injured by the gunfire and was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center with a gunshot to her leg. She was released from the hospital early Thursday.
"Bullets just started storming in," she told reporters. "I'm telling Tequila 'stay down.'"
Glenn Forshee, said another of his daughters was grazed by a bullet.
Family members said Tequila Forshee was sitting on a couch getting her hair done when she was shot.
"She wasn't responding, [we] were trying to wake her up," Frazier-Brown said. "It was horrible, it was horrible."
VIDEO: Grandmother Says She Was Braiding 12-Year-Old Girl's Hair When Shots Came in
Five people were in the home at the time of the shooting.
"I felt something in my leg, I thought I just got hit by glass or something," Frazier-Brown said.
Local
She said she believes her son may have been the target of the gunman or gunmen.
"This is gang-related, my niece was shot in the head," aunt Cherina Forshee said. "If anybody knows anything, has seen anything, please give the police a call, the family is just going really crazy, and we appreciate your help and support."
Glenn Forshee arrived heartbroken to the home where his daughter died. Adding to the pain, he said, is knowing his three other children could only watch helplessly.
"My oldest daughter got grazed in the arm with a bullet," he said. "My kids watched (their) little sister die. (They're) torn apart."
On Thursday afternoon, Miami Gardens Police went door to door looking for answers, while the 12-year-old's father remembered the last time he saw her.
"She gave me a kiss and she said, 'goodnight daddy'. As she walked out I told her, 'I love you'. She said, 'I love you too daddy,'" he said. "And that was the last physical moment I had with my baby."
Mother of Miami-Dade Inmate Who Escaped Attack Planning Lawsuit
Two women who led a prayer at the vigil Thursday night aren't family members. They didn't even know Tequila Forshee, but their sons were also killed from gun violence. They are part of a support group for families of murdered children called the RJT Foundation. They said they're making too many stops like this one.
"Children at 12 years old are not supposed to be dying of gun violence and it's happening too often in our community and we're just here to offer words of comfort to the family, being that we've had to walk the same path. We had to cry the same tears," Queen Brown said.
Police are still investigating the shooting.
"I wish it was me," Frazier-Brown said. "My grandbaby had her whole life ahead of her."
Frazier-Brown said she will never forget the 12-year-old's last words to her.
"The last thing she told me was, 'Thank you, Grandma, for buying all my schoolclothes. I love you.'"
More Local Stories:
