The 16-year-old girl shot and killed in Lanham, Maryland, Monday afternoon dreamed of playing in the WNBA, her father told News4.
“Jayda, we love you,” said Jayda Medrano-Moore’s father, Glendon Reid. “If you can hear us right now, we love you. One day we’re going to meet each other soon in heaven, and I’m just … we’re going to deeply miss her.”
The DuVal High School student from Greenbelt was shot while leaving school with her brother about 3:30 p.m. Monday. Police do not believe she was the target.
Reid said his daughter was walking with her brother after school when they ran into a group that got into a dispute with her brother. Jayda tried to intervene and was shot, her father said.
The shooting prompted the lockdown of DuVal and nearby Robert Goddard Montessori School for almost two hours.
Jayda was a humble, bright student who loved basketball and wanted to play professionally one day, Reid said. She had much more to achieve in life, he said.
“It’s very heart-wrenching knowing that you brought someone in this world that’s special, and she means a lot to me,” Reid said. “She was shining through her sports. She loved her classmates, her team, her coaches.”
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Prince George’s County police say they’re still investigating the nature of the dispute before the shooting. They’re offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.
“Gun violence is really a problem with kids these days, and I’m just, I thought I would never be a victim, to lose a child through gun violence,” Reid said. “And this was a big blow to our family.”
Prince George’s County Public Schools Superintendent Millard House said DuVal High School was scheduled to be in the second round of schools to receive security enhancements. That process will be sped up.
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