CLEVELAND — Family and friends of Destiny Johnson gathered Saturday evening to honor her memory and call for justice for her death.
Crystal Newkirt, Johnson's mother, spoke emotionally about her daughter at the vigil.
"This is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy—to feel the way I feel right now, and for nothing to come of it. I'm just really broken right now, and I don't know what to do," Newkirt said. "Just to hear the doctor say she didn't make it. Just my whole world shattered, and I haven't even breathed, exhaled actually, since Feb. 6. She had a lot going for her for somebody just to come and just snatch her away from us."
Around 3:20 a.m., on Feb. 6, officers were called to the 1800 block of East 12th Street for reports of a female shot on the ninth floor of a building.
Once on scene, officers found a 24-year-old woman, later identified by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office as Johnson, in a stairwell with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
Preliminary information shows Johnson was attending a large party held in two apartments in the building. During the party, a fight broke out between women and Johnson left. Police believe the shooter chased the victim and shot her as she entered the stairwell.
The shooting remains under investigation.
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