The victim's family, classmates and teachers held a memorial for her at Lincoln High School in her honor
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- The parents of a 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed in Jersey City are speaking out, one day after her suspected killer was arrested and charged with murder.
One peek at Cianna Lee's room and you would see she was a typical 15-year-old girl, with stuffed animals on her bed and her school outfit laid out.
That's where her father would kiss her goodnight, but the last time he saw her, she was dying in his arms.
"I was trying to call her name, 'Cianna, Cianna, Cianna.' No response. Every time I close my eyes at night the only thing I can see is her face," Lee's father said.
It was a face that beamed with joy, but what unfolded nearly a week ago could only be described as a horror.
Lee was in the car with her stepmom, driving home last Saturday on Saturday, January 18, near Martin Luther King Drive and Union Street, when gunfire erupted.
"I reached out to her and realized my hands were filled with blood," her stepmom said. "And that's when I realized that she was shot. And then I looked at the mirror, at the rear mirror where you can see from the back and I saw somebody was standing in the middle of the street and having a gun pointed at our car."
Lee's stepmom would then realize she also was hit by a bullet in her lower back. She and her husband rushed Lee straight to the hospital, but the 15-year-old could not be saved.
"Cianna was a very loving child, very loving child. If a room was dark she was the light there," her father said.
Lee had only been in this country since March. Her father moved her here from Jamaica for a better life. She was just getting acclimated to life as a student at Lincoln High School in Jersey City, and then her young life was taken.
"Just wanted to know more about America, the school system here," said middle school teacher Ms. Dunkin.
The school community has rallied around the family. Lee's family, classmates and teachers held a memorial for her Lee at the high school where they released balloons in her honor on Friday.
The suspected shooter, a 16-year-old boy, is now charged as a juvenile with first-degree murder and a slew of other counts.
But Lee's parents still need closure.
"I don't see why she would have been the target. I don't see why we're the target because we're just you know, we're just a working family," Lee's stepmom said. "My husband goes to work, I go to work, we come home."
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