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TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Family members and loved ones gathered Friday night to remember the 17-year-old girl who was shot and killed last weekend.
Family members say she was taken too soon, “just a sweet little girl, very, very, loving, caring, hard will working for the age she was, she had a future ahead of her,” Nevaeh’s cousin, Tashina Plakio said.
Family and friends of Nevaeh Martinez held a balloon release on Friday night near 11th and clay street, which was the same place where Neveah was killed.
“It’s kind of hard, I don’t, there are no words for real, and seeing my nephew and sister like this really hurts because we weren’t really close like that,” Samar Phelps, Nevaeh’s aunt emphasized. “I wish things were different. we were just starting to get close and they just took her from me.”
The 17-year-old was killed over the 4th of July weekend near 11th and clay street.
Family members and friends held a balloon release to celebrate her.
“It’s pretty sad that other people don’t take other people’s lives into consideration like the gun violence needs to stop,” Kayla Plakio, Nevaeh’s cousin said. “It’s just ridiculous that this is happening, everybody needs to come together. the only thing we can do is keep promoting gun safety and put the guns down.”
Nevaeh’s friends from Nebraska came to remember her, too.
“I was heartbroken and I still am. There’s a lot of emotions. I’m still trying to process because it’s so crazy to me that she’s really gone,” Akionna Anderson, Nevaeh’s friend from Nebraska said. “We’re from Lincoln, Nebraska and we came down here just to support her, her family and just to be around her people.”
Though she may be gone, those here say Nevaeh will always be remembered.
“She was always supportive, she always encouraged us whenever we were down she was there to lift us up,” Arayah Anderson, Nevaeh friend from Nebraska said. “She always made us laugh, she always did something goofy. she was just a happy caring person to be around.”
“She loved her momma, she loved her a little brother, they were definitely, definitely a whole right there, she was a sweet little girl,” Tashina added.
Family and friends held a candle lighting ceremony for Nevaeh.
Nevaeh’s funeral will be on July 23rd at Love Fellowship Church in Topeka.
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