AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)- “This was something that we weren’t expecting, like at all. We were all planning on growing up together, going to each other’s weddings, having kids together and now it’s like… all of us are just stuck,” Shaneikwa’s cousin Alysia Antley said.
That’s how Shaneikwa’s cousin and the rest of her family feel now that she’s gone.
“We, we just lost without her,” Antley said.
Balloons were released into the sky to honor Shaneikwa who died with what would’ve been her second daughter.
“She was so happy to have this little girl because she always wanted two daughters. And then we were supposed to be planning her baby shower and she was happy about that. She was just like, ‘I got my two girls, my life is set, I’m good,’ she was just ready,” Antley said.
Family says she was the life of any family function.
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And with her parents rooted in her childhood church, it was natural for Shaneikwa to be involved.
“I’ve been knowing Shaneikwa for 20 years– I’ve been the pastor at Mt. Sinai for 20 years and she was there when I got there. Shaneikwa used to sing in the choir and her mother currently signs in the choir and her father is a trustee at our church. So, very supportive family and nobody deserves this,” Pastor Carter said.
Pastor Larry Carter of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church says violence is never the answer and its impact on communities bring a heavy pain.
“People have said to me ‘well guns don’t kill people,’ yeah but people pull triggers.”
The family’s main concern, now, is seeking justice.
“Let her death go down without a fight, like I want people out there looking, if you know anything about who could’ve did it or where they could be, say something, because they more you stay quiet, the more the family is hurting because we can’t get justice for her and her little girl,” Antley said.
Later this week, the family will hold a funeral for Shaneikwa and her daughter to say one last goodbye.
The family has also started a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses and to put out a reward to help find the shooter.
