JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Nearly 24 hours after her daughter was shot and killed in a north side home, a woman is making a public plea for answers.
Family members said 23-year-old Sharnice Wilson (picture to the right)
and her 2-year old daughter, Ta-niyah Brooks, were spending the night with her godmother, Marquisha Phillips (pictured below), Saturday night when shots were fired into the home on Chestnut Drive. Both Wilson and Phillips were killed. The little girl was injured and is now in the hospital.
Wilson's family said they are focusing on honoring her memory and finding the person responsible.
Wilson leaves behind three children. The oldest is 3 years old.
"Sharnice was hard-working, a loving mother," said Wilson's mother, Ursula Johnson-Early.
Those are just a few of the words Johnson-Early chose to describe her daughter. She said she was devastated when she got the news that her daughter had been killed.
"Her children didn't deserve their mother to be taken away like this," Johnson-Early said. "I don't deserve it, her father, her sisters."
Police said someone shot into the home from the back, killing both women and injuring Wilson's daughter.
"Thankful to God that she made it out of surgery," Johnson-Early said of Ta-niyah. "She's out of the ICU and she's doing well."
There have been no arrests in the case yet. There's now a sign marked "Crime Stoppers" near the front lawn.
As Johnson-Early waits for answers, she said she thinks about the many memories she has with her daughter.
"Just coming to the house, laughter with the kids, her coming to come to take her brother to the park," Johnson-Early said. "She was very active with the little kids, her brother -- taking them to Chuck E. Cheese, taking them to the park."
Johnson-Early said she also thinks about everything she will miss.
"Sharnice and myself were actually supposed to be going to get her a house on Monday," Johnson-Early said.
Now, she's making a plea to the public: Go to the police and give Wilson's family the justice they need.
"It would mean a lot to me, her kids, her family, friends," Johnson-Early said.
Johnson-Early said her thoughts and prayers are also with Marquisha Phillips' loved ones. She said right now, she and her family are working through funeral arrangements.
Anyone with information that could help police is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
