JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 12-year-old Jacksonville girl who died after she was accidentally shot by an 11-year-old boy last year during a sleepover was being remembered Sunday night.
“Something needs to be done about it,” the girl’s aunt, Harriet McNeal, said. “Kids need to be shown an example of — if they find a weapon — what they should do with it.”
Ra’Mya Eunice died a month after she was shot. She was taken off life support.
Ra’Mya’s family spent Sunday celebrating her life and speaking with children about gun safety.
They said if that 11-year-old boy had known not to handle a gun, Ra’Mya would still be alive.
“Friday made one year that my family and Ra’Mya’s mom had to make a decision to take her off life support,” McNeal said.
Ra’Mya was shot at a sleepover in the Lackawanna neighborhood last April. The 11-year-old boy allegedly found the gun in an abandoned house and pulled the trigger.
“The children need to know guns kill people if they’re not in the right hands of trained people,” said AJ Jordan, with MAD DADS.
Jordan, one of several people who attended Ra’Mya’s memorial, spoke with children about gun safety.
He and Ra’Mya’s family believe their mission is to promote community safety.
“One thing we are trying to do is do this in remembrance of her,” RaMya’s aunt, Sharon Carrol, said. “We’re trying to make others aware of gun violence, and hopefully we can get this under control where kids aren’t able to get ahold of a weapon and take other kids’ lives.
RaMya’s family said they were happy to have so many in attendance Sunday despite the rain.