NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Monday, tragedy struck near the McDonough playground in Algiers when 25-year-old Brittany Ussin was shot and killed.
“She just wanted to make it to Chastity’s birthday. She died on her birthday. Her niece’s birthday. That hurts. That hurts,” Brittany’s sister, Ciera Ussin said.
To help honor Ussin’s life, friends and family gathered right at the playground for a balloon release, saying prayers and sharing stories in memory of her.
“She was full of love. Full of life. She loved unconditional and she loved her sisters and her brothers,” her mother, Montrice Ussin, said.
“She didn’t deserve to leave us the way that she did,” Brittany’s aunt, Cotrena McIntyre, said.
The balloon release comes the same day of 37-year-old Nayiondra Woolridge’s arrest in connection with the shooting.
She now faces a charge of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
“I’m thankful for the NOPD for doing at least apprehending the main shooter. Everything else will fall into place and with god’s grace we will as a family will be able to get through this,” McIntyre said.
For now, the family hopes the city takes this tragedy as a lesson to put the guns down.
“We got to go back to being a loving community again. We got to go back to being a village, alright? And that’s what we want to do. We want to send a message out. We are hurt right now. Yes, but we are going to heal. But we want everyone to heal because we want this to be the last of it and we’re hoping that this case here will open other people’s eyes to where this never happens again,” her uncle, Michael Willis, said.
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