High School Senior Killed After Her Sister's Birthday Party

Witnesses said the shooting sounded like a warzone.

Family members say 17-year-old Jamillah Collier had a bright future and a smile that could light up a room. The senior at Roosevelt High School in Eastvale was shot and killed in front of her aunt's house Sunday just before 1 a.m.

"She was a happy girl. She went to school, she got accepted to three colleges, she was graduating and they just took that away from me," said the victim's mother, Delrene Mathis.

Collier had been at her 16-year-old sister's birthday party at a friend's house Saturday night when an argument broke out with another group of girls. The sisters left the party in a friend's car, but soon noticed they were being followed by two cars.

That's when the first shot was fired, said her sister, Jhonis Carter.

The group drove to Collier's aunt's house on Merrygrove Circle. As the sisters sat in the back seat of their friend's car, the two cars appeared again, this time firing several shots. Witnesses said it sounded like a war zone.

"I was just worried about my sister ... how tight she was holding my hand until she got hit. She let go and that's how I knew she was hit," said Carter.

Collier was shot twice in the back and Carter was hit once in the shoulder. For Mathis, the slaying of her daughter isn't just heart-wrenching, it's infuriating. She is pleading for someone to identify the killer.

"I just want him to suffer in jail because he stole my daughter's life from her," said Mathis.

A vigil for Collier will be held Monday at Roosevelt High School.

If you would like to donate to a GoFundMe account set up to help Collier's family, you may do so here. Note that GoFundMe deducts 7.9 percent of all funds raised in the form of platform and payment processing charges.

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