Her aunt and adoptive mother, Carol Anderson, says Jenice was graduating from new dorp high school, getting out of the rough Stapleton public housing development and heading upstate for college.
"She didn't need to suffer. She was going to graduate in a week and a half. They took her for no reason," Anderson said.
Investigators say Jenice was with a large group of teens hanging out in front of island deli on Gordon Street around 3:00 Sunday morning.
It was something her family says she rarely did.
Jenice's sister said she got into a fight with a man and his girlfriend on the corner. Jenice tried to step in and break up the argument. She says someone pulled out a gun and fired shots.
A bullet hit Jenice in the stomach. She died at the hospital several hours later.
"I can't. There's nothing I can say right now (starts crying)," Karen Jones said.
While Jenice's biological mother is at a loss for words, her family says there's only one thing left to say.
"All the people that was out there. You call yourself friends? Our family is hurt because we're all in this together. What if it was your family? If someone knows, testify who shot and killed Jenice. Murdered her! I'm pissed off," Gail Anderson, her aunt, said.
"Talk. Don't keep it a secret. I'm suffering. I want the ones who did it to suffer like I'm suffering. I hope they rot in hell," Carol Anderson said.
For now, the search for Jenice's killer continues.
