When word went out on Friday night that two females had been shot on King Street, we feared the worst. And after a week that saw 9 murders across the country – who wouldn’t? But the two young women – who are teenagers have to be considered lucky, particularly in the current crime climate. They told Jacqueline Godwin that they don’t know why they were shot.
Prudence Garnett, Mother of Shooting Victims
“No I didn’t think that they would get shoot.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What went through your mind when you heard that both your daughters got shot?
Prudence Garnett,
“Well I was left in a shock, I didn’t even know what to do or what to say. I was just left in a total shock.”
The sisters fourteen - year old Quincella Murillo and sixteen - year old Lavern Garnett are home recovering from gunshot wounds they received to their right ankle and right leg. According to Prudence Garnett her daughters left home on Friday night to attend a wake and they were shot after that.
Prudence Garnett,
“They were just with their auntie at a wake, that innocent, and they weren’t a violence wake – they were just at a little old lady wake to get hurt like that.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
How are they right now? What are the doctors saying about their injuries? I noticed one was more seriously hurt than the other.
Prudence Garnett,
“Well Lavern, she is walking around right now, but Princella will take a while before she walks.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
What happened to Quincella?
Prudence Garnett,
“Quincella got shot in her ankle and afterwards…the bullet went through her ankle so she won’t walk right now.”
The young girls were in the company of their aunt and cousin Glennis Goff. According to Goff, they had already left the wake and were at the corner of King and West Streets when she first noticed two young men and then heard several gunshots.
Glennis Goff, Cousin of shooting victims
“When we came from the wake, we were standing on the street side waiting to catch a taxi and when we were dialing the number, we saw two boys come behind us. And then I don’t know what happened after that. We just heard gunshots and when we were running we heard my cousin holler that she got shot. And then the next one ran around the house and said she got shit in her foot.”
Quincella and Lavern were hit with two of the five bullets that were fired. The young women say they do not believe the bullets were meant for them because they do not know why anyone would want to hurt them. Today the young women stressed that contrary to popular belief they were not hanging out on any street corner when they were shot.
Glennis Goff,
“No we weren’t hanging out at the street side. We went to a wake with one of my mom’s friends. Her mother died and we went to a wake and when we were coming home, that was about at eleven o’clock we were coming home and when we were calling the taxi man, we just heard the gunshots go off, five shots.”
It was the police who took the young sisters to the hospital.
Prudence Garnett,
“The only thing I would want is for them to stop those shootings right now because right now it is hard. It is hard for a lot of mothers to go through that, especially me right now because every minute you hear about shootings and afterwards, my two little girls - it is really hard for me and they are innocent.”
And while Quincella and Lavern recover at home the police have yet to find the shooter. For 7NEWS Jacqueline Godwin.
Police have no suspects in the shooting.
