36-year-old Lisa Murena says the second she saw Arya, she had to have her.
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"It had to be her or no way, she was the boss," Murena said.
But now people in Murena's neighborhood of Howard Beach are rallying behind her after Arya died on Friday.
"I can't be in my parents' room, I can't sleep by myself, I'm just a mess," she said.
A bullet hole in the window right next to her parents' bed now serves as a painful reminder of what happened to Arya.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Murena's brother heard glass shattering and then Arya whimpering while everyone was asleep.
"He saw a lot of blood, and he's like we have to get her to the vet," Murena said.
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Arya would need surgery after a bullet became lodged in her leg. The family was stunned and called police.
Murena's family spotted a second bullet hole in a neighbor's home, where the suspect, Joshua Marte, lives.
The 18-year-old's mother told detectives her son had fired guns, which at first, she hid in her freezer. Officers later recovered them.
Arya seemed to be doing better in the hospital, but Friday took a turn for the worst. Murena last saw her on Thursday.
"She just looked tired, she saw my sister-in-law, she walked herself out of the cage, she wanted to come home with us," she said.
Murena says she got a restraining order and wants nothing to do with her neighbor, whom she's never met.
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Meanwhile, Marte was charged with criminal possession of weapons and reckless endangerment. It is unclear whether the charges will be upgraded.
"It's heartbreaking, she was my little girl," Murena said.
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