By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

ALPHEA Jones said she knew her daughter was dead the second she saw her lying on her bedroom floor, but held on to hope that a miracle would bring her back.

Her daughter, 24-year-old Leoniece Jones, was shot in the neck in her Yellow Elder Gardens home early Tuesday morning.

Police say, she was at home with her family, when an unknown person or persons fired several shots through her bedroom window, hitting her multiple times. Leoniece was taken to hospital by a private vehicle, but died on arrival.

Mrs Jones said she heard the gunshots, but did not think someone in her home was shot because she did not hear any screams or any alarming noises.

“She was in the bedroom doing her hair for work and we all heard the shots, but I thought it was on the outside. It wasn’t until my son came to me and said ‘Niecey got shot’ that we realised something was wrong,” she said.

“She made no sounds, she never screamed. When I went into the room, I knew she was already dead, but we still carried her to the hospital.

“When we got there the doctors said she was gone. Just like that my baby was gone. She was a nice person, who never bothered anyone. She was loving and kind and dutiful. She was always at peace, everyone loved her, she didn’t get into arguments, she is going to be missed by so many.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson said police currently have no one in custody nor do they have any motive for the killing.

“We do know if it was in retaliation for the murder that happened through Yellow Elder a few days earlier, but as it looks now, we do not think it is – it does not seem so,” he said.

“We are still trying to determine the reason for the killing, very shortly we will be able to say who the target was in the house because a male relative had just arrived home shortly before the shooting,” he added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 911 or 919, the Central Detective Unit at 502-9991 or crime stoppers anonymously at 328-TIPS.