TOLEDO, Ohio — Emotions were high on Tuesday in north Toledo when nearly 100 people gathered to remember DeAsia Green, the missing 15-year-old whose body was found in north Toledo Monday.
Her parents and police were the ones who found her on Monday afternoon, and they say it crushed their spirits.
Balloons and candles, symbols of a life taken too soon, now fill now that alleyway near 1300 Page St., where friends, family, loved ones and community members gathered to remember Green.
"The last time I saw my baby was Dec. 31," Green's mother, Teairia Hill, said. "That was the last day I saw my baby. The last time, the last time. I'm never, never going to see her again."
Speaking through pain, Hill said an alley is not where her daughter's last moments should have been.
"She was very sweet, smart, intelligent, outspoken, talented, beautiful. Her family loved her," she said.
DeAsia's stepfather, Andre Autman, said the family is thankful for everyone who has reached out. But now, they just want justice.
"They always talk about snitching," Autman said. "It isn't called snitching, it's telling the truth. She didn't deserve to be in an alley. I just want justice for her."
Hill urged the community to fix the culture that has allowed gun violence to steal so many young people.
On Dec. 15, 2022, the bodies of two teens -- confirmed a day later to be Ke'Marion Wilder, 16, and Kyshawn Pittman, 15 -- were found in the ash and rubble of a burned-down vacant home in north Toledo.
"This is a wake-up call, you can't do this. These guns. You all have to put them down. All this senseless, nonsense killing for no reason. It's our kids," Hill said.
As the vigil went on, a loud gunshot-like noise went off in the area, sending attendees running for their cars in fear and leaving the area.
A regional dispatcher later confirmed to WTOL 11 that the noise was a firecracker.