JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A candlelight vigil was held Friday night for 13-year-old Titania Mitchell, the Jacksonville girl shot and killed on the Northside earlier this month.
Hurting Families With Children In Crime Inc. hosted the vigil at the Holmes-Glover & Solomon Funeral Home at 4334 Brentwood Ave. People wanting to attend were asked to bring white candles.
Mitchell's viewing was being held from 4-8 p.m. Friday at the Church of God Sanctuary Praise located on Soutel Drive. Her funeral is scheduled for Saturday at the same church at 11 a.m.
"I'm kind of sad, but I know she's still in our hearts, but we have to move on and have her in our mind," said Mitchell's friend Aysia Davis.
Mitchell was killed April 13 in a relative's home. Officers say the teen was inside the home with four other children when her 11-year-old friend and found a gun and accidentally fired. No adults were home at the time.
Mitchell's uncle, Uwan Williams, traveled into Jacksonville to pay his last respects to a little girl he said he hadn't seen since she was just a small child.
"It was tragic accident, you live and learn but it brought our family together," said Williams. "A lot of us haven't been together in a long time. It sucks that a tragedy has to bring us together to bring us back together."
The way Mitchell died adds an extra layer of pain to the family and friends who gathered Friday.
"Everybody is taking it very hard because she was really loved. Everybody loved her," said Marsheree Harriss.
"Tomorrow's gonna be the worst day because that's when they've got to bury her and see her for the last time, and that's, that's hard," said Ossicedeanna Seburoy.
Officers arrested two people in the case -- the homeowner and the homeowner's boyfriend, who owned the gun.