‘Special angel’: Family, friends remember 7-year-old girl shot, killed by uncle

CHARLOTTE — Community and family members gathered on Sunday to remember a 7-year-old girl who was shot and killed in Gastonia earlier this month.

Mothers of Murdered Offspring held a vigil for Gabrielle Jones at Camp Greene Park in west Charlotte.

“The thing about Gabby that brings a smile to my face -- the baby was just a special angel here on earth,” her great uncle Timmy Jones said.

Channel 9′s Glenn Counts was at the vigil and said that Gabrielle touched a lot of lives judging by the size of the crowd who came to celebrate her life.

“She loved to dance. She loved to talk. She loved to play. Her favorite thing was, ‘Granddad, can you take me out to play?” Gabrielle’s grandfather Bernard Nelson said.

At the vigil, there were prayers and remembrances offered by her family members. Participants also lit candles and released purple balloons.

Gabrielle’s mother also thanked everyone for their support, and her great aunt shared an uplifting message.

“The day before this happened, Gabby said to her mother, my niece, ‘Mommy, what does heaven look like?’ and, to me, that gives me peace because I truly feel an angel of God whispered to her,” Gabrielle’s great aunt Pat Moore said.

Police said Gabrielle was shot by her uncle, Jeremy Lewis, in what appears to be an accidental shooting. Officers said Lewis was making a music video and was handling guns -- some that were real and some that were fake.

According to court documents, a gun discharged, and the bullet went through a wall striking Gabrielle in the head.

Lewis has been charged with second-degree murder.

Lisa Crawford with MOMO said not enough people take the firearm threat seriously.

“Not for a second do I think her uncle meant to kill her. I don’t think that at all, but it’s just how we treat guns and how we glorify them and how they are so much a part of us, and we don’t consider the consequences of those guns,” she said.

Gabrielle will be laid to rest on Tuesday.

Her great aunt hopes that if the community takes anything away from this tragedy, it’s to put the guns down.

Gastonia 7-year-old dies week after being shot in head by uncle

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