GOLDSBORO, N.C. (WTVD) – The family of a 13-year-old shooting victim from North Carolina remains devastated by her death just before Christmas, including her older sister who held the teenager as she took her final breath.
Whitney Brown-Tune didn’t expect to spend the days before Christmas planning a funeral for her 13-year-old daughter, Jaleeyah Tune.
Overwhelmed with grief, she said there were gifts under the tree that her daughter never got to open.
“I’m heartbroken. I’m devastated at the loss of my daughter and what she had to go through, feeling scared and alone,” Brown-Tune said.
Goldsboro Police arrested three teenage boys, two 16-year-olds and one 15-year-old, in connection with Jaleeyah’s death.
Investigators say she was fatally shot just after 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Jaleeyah’s sister, 14-year-old J’Sheeyah Tune, said she held her as she took her final breath. She said the two went with friends to get something to eat.
While walking home, she said a group of boys she didn’t know jumped out of the bushes and started shooting.
When J’Sheeyah turned around to look for her sister, she saw Jaleeyah had been shot.
“She looked so scared. I was scared myself because I hate to have to see her like that.
There was blood all on my hands, and I didn’t want to wipe it off because I still felt her presence. I still felt that she was with me,” J’Sheeyah said.
Jaleeyah’s family said the seventh grader had a big personality, describing her as “a helper who was friendly, smart and bubbly.” They are devastated by her loss.
“She didn’t deserve this at all. People are very cruel. Now, I have to live on without my sister,” J’Sheeyah said.
The three suspects are facing charges of first-degree murder and felony conspiracy. Police haven’t yet revealed if there was a motive behind the shooting, saying this remains an active investigation.
