JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Friends and family are preparing for a candlelight vigil Sunday night to remember a Jacksonville mother who was found dead downtown.
Shalinda Rosier's body was found near the intersection of North Myrtle Avenue and Dennis Street last Saturday. The 22-year-old had four children. Now her family is asking for the community's help to lay her to rest.
"She was so sweet," said Donnelle Hughes, the victim's cousin. "So loving. This girl, if you ever met her, that smile. People can meet her and tell you a million stories, but once you talk to her, it's like you couldn't have nothing but love from her."
Rosier was mother to a children ages 1, 2, 3 and 5 years old.
"Now they took this girl away from all four of these kids," Hughes said. "Now these kids are going to be lost. They're going to be lost without their mom. There's nothing like having their mom."
Hughes said Rosier's children are now separated because they all have different fathers.
Rosier was at a party store before her death, Hughes said. Police told News4Jax they were flagged down around 10 p.m. about a body in the area. Investigators didn't release any additional information on how she was killed.
Hughes said her family wants to properly lay Rosier to rest, and they need the community's help to fund the funeral.
"Now we're sitting up here, trying to figure out how to give her a proper burial," Hughes said. "It's bad enough she didn't have a good life."
Police said it was a homicide, but no arrests have been made in Rosier's death. Hughes wants the person responsible to come forward.
"Whoever it is that did this, I wish you would come forward, because you have not only taken away a mother, you have taken away a cousin, you have taken away a person," Hughes said. "We love her. We can't bring her back, but we would just wish that you would come forward. If anybody would come forward and just say what happened, just turn yourself in. Why would you not turn yourself in?"
The candlelight vigil will be held Sunday at 5:30 p.m. where her body was found at North Myrtle Avenue and Dennis Street.
Anyone who knows anything about what happened to Rosier is asked to call police.
If you'd like to make a donation to help Rosier's family with burial expenses, click here to go to the GoFundMe account.