PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia community is looking for answers after a young girl, missing for six months, was found shot to death last month.
Dozens of friends, family, loved ones and neighbors gathered in the Frankford section of Philadelphia earlier this week to remember Alezauna Carter, who was 13 years old.
Carter was shot and killed on April 18. She was initially listed as a 20-year-old adult in a Jane Doe case after having been missing since last October. The person responsible remains at large.
Cowin Williams with Philadelphia Cure Violence organized the vigil and balloon release for Carter.
He said an officer who found Carter's body in Frankford went above and beyond his job to help identify the girl.
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"It bothered him that this woman was unidentified, and nobody was asking about her," said Williams.
"She stayed in the morgue until he did diligent work and found out she was somebody, gave her an identity and they knocked on the mom's door Sunday."
Williams said there have been a myriad of emotions running through the neighborhood where Carter was killed in mid-April.
"I think fear, because there's an unknown killer walking around," Williams explained.
"I think it's anger because nobody is identifying that predator, and I think it's sadness because we're talking about a life that wasn't realized."
The news came as a life-altering shock to Tricia Carter. She said her daughter was supposed to be in Philadelphia Department of Human Services custody, but added she ran away from their care.
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Tricia is now pleading with her community for help.
"Help in any way. Help us try to find out what this was over," she said.
She admitted she's now left with more questions than answers.
"Why so long? Why no one said anything? Just so (many) why's. I have a lot of why's," said Tricia.
"Right now, it's hard. I still can't believe that I'm not going to get a phone call. I'm not going to get an Instagram message. I'm not going to hear her."
"We are incredibly saddened to learn of the tragic death of Alezauna Carter," Heather Keafer with Philadelphia DHS said.
"While state confidentiality laws prohibit DHS from confirming or denying involvement with any case, we are confident that the police will quickly find the perpetrator of this crime and that justice will be served for Alezauna."