WATCH ABOVE: Questions remain about the death of Lecent Ross who was shot in what police are calling a suspicious death. Marianne Dimain has more.
TORONTO – The mother of 14-year-old girl who was fatally shot in a home in the city’s west end says her daughter could “light up a room” and the death has left a community mourning.
Lecent Ross was shot Thursday morning with an illegal, semi-automatic handgun at a home in Toronto’s Rexdale neighbourhood.
At a press conference Friday afternoon, Alicia Jesquith called her daughter a “special individual who had dreams of becoming a lawyer.”
“This is very difficult and hard,” Jesquith said fighting back tears. “I lost her too soon.”
READ MORE: Police call fatal shooting of 14-year-old girl in Etobicoke ‘suspicious’
The grieving mother questioned the tragedy saying she still doesn’t know what exactly happened to her daughter.
“Why did this happen to my daughter? She didn’t deserve this,” Jesquith said.
Troy Ross, the 14-year-old’s uncle, said his niece was a “beautiful person.”
“My niece was a beautiful person. Like Alicia said, where ever she went she would light up the room just because of her smile.” said Ross. “She was a beautiful little girl, who just wanted to be a kid.”
Toronto Police said Lecent had been shot in the upper body and was rushed to hospital but later died of her injuries. Investigators say it is still unclear who was holding the handgun and why it was fired.
Police said they had recovered an illegal .40-calibre Smith and Wesson gun from the scene and will run DNA tests on the weapon in hope of determining more details on how the girl was killed.
No charges have been laid and police said Thursday that they aren’t currently seeking any suspects.
Pastor Keaton Austin at Abundant Life Assembly in Etobicoke spoke out Friday calling for an end to gun violence in the wake of the tragedy.
Austin called on parents and community leaders to work together to stop the violence.
“I want to know where the guns are coming from. The violence has to be stopped,” Austin told reporters. “The community has to come together now, especially the parents and community leaders.”
“This violence [in Etobicoke] we need to address it because we bury too [many] of young brothers and older guys too,” he said.
He also urged different levels of government to provide more programs and jobs for young people in the area.
Community activist Andray Domise says Lecent’s death could have happened anywhere and the conversation should be less about the neighbourhood where she was killed and more about what needs to be done to protect young lives.
“It could have happened down the road from where I am standing out in Markland Wood and we would be talking about what a senseless and tragic loss this is and we wouldn’t have to drag in the character of the neighbourhood in to it,” he said. “We just need to get away from this narrative about Rexdale being such a terrible neighbourhood and people having no hope.”
*With files from Marianne Dimain
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