Community Gathers To Remember 16-Year-Old Killed In West Sacramento Shooting
WEST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A shattered community gathered with family and friends of a 16-year-old shooting victim to show solidarity in grief during a memorial on the Clarksburg trail Monday evening.
"She's gone way too soon. This shouldn't have happened. This ain't the way you're supposed to go out Sam," said a memorial attendee.
Charges were filed against three 16-year-olds on Monday in connection to the shooting death of a teen on the Clarksburg Trail in West Sacramento.
Police say two 16-year-old boys from Elk Grove and a Sacramento are facing homicide, homicide, and conspiracy charges while a 16-year-old Sacramento girl is charged with accessory. All three teens were arrested over the weekend in connection to the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl identified by family only as Samantha.
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Many like Debra McCann didn't know the young girl but felt it was important to show support.
"I am filled, just heartbroken for her family and friends," McCann said.
Amid hugs and tears, friends and family shared stories and struggled to find understanding in this tragic moment.
"I would have never imagined this," said an unidentified friend of the victim.
CBS13 talked to the victim's grandfather Mark Bentley on Monday. Bentley said his granddaughter was shot and killed Saturday around 7:30 p.m. on the Clarksburg Trail, caught in the middle of a drug deal gone bad. Bentley says Samantha ran away after seeing a gun and was shot in the back three times.
"So what a coward. Why do you shoot? Why do you make that decision?" Bentley said.
Bentley he wants the suspects to be tried as adults.
"...To prosecute this boy as an adult because he made a very adult decision when he pulled that trigger that was an adult decision," Bentley said.
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During the memorial, the small crowd screamed "Sammys World" in unison.
Jane Yeung heard the gunshots Saturday evening from her home and rode up on her bike Monday to lay a heartshaped wreath for the victim she knew nothing about.
"This should never have happened. Never," she said. "The fact that people are getting together shows how much this community in West Sacramento gets together."
The Yolo County Coroner's office expects to officially identify the teen later this week.
