Graveside Memorial Honors Girl Killed in 2011 Durham Drive-By

Shakanah’s mother, Demetriss China, placed a red rose at the grave. Photo by Leanora Minai.On what would have been Shakanah China’s 14^th birthday, her mother, family and friends gathered at her unmarked grave.

Her friend, Alexis Joyner, wore a black T-shirt that read, “R.I.P. Sis Forever In My Heart.”

Her mentor, Shanna Jefferson, stood by the gravesite with tears in her eyes and reflected on Shakanah’s birthday last year, the one they celebrated over a meal at Ruby Tuesday.

“I never would have thought that it would have been the last birthday we spent together,” said Jefferson, who saved the receipt from Ruby Tuesday as a keepsake.

Nearly a year has passed since Shakanah died in a drive-by shooting in Durham. An unintended target, she was standing outside May 10, 2011, when someone opened fire from a passing van.

Police say the murder investigation is active, but the case remains unsolved.

“Some people say it was gang bangin’ … I don't care what it was over,” said Shakanah's mother, Demetriss China.

“I just want justice to be served. She’ll be 14 years old today, and she’s not here. People ask me, ‘will I forgive?’ No, I won't forgive – for nothing in the world. Next month will be a year. I can't forgive ... No, I can't forgive you.”

Here are moments captured from Shakanah’s gravesite at Glenview Cemetery in Durham on Monday, April 9.

Photo by Leanora Minai.At Shakanah’s grave, above, family and friends arrange a memorial, which includes balloons that read “Love” and “Happy Birthday Princess.”

Photo by Leanora Minai.India Parker, 14, above, exchanged text messages with Shakanah several minutes before the shooting. “She told me how much she loved me, that she was going to be here for me no matter what through thick and thin,” India said. “It’s kind of hard to believe that she is gone.”

Photo by Leanora Minai.Shakanah China’s grave at Glenview Cemetery. She is buried beside her grandmother.

Anyone with information about the Shakanah China case is asked to call Durham Police Investigator Pate at (919) 560-4440 ext. 29332 or CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases. Callers do not have to identify themselves.

Film Outtake: Neighborhood Prayer Vigil for 2010 Homicide Victim

As part of the reporting and fieldwork for my short documentary film, I attend vigils and remembrance ceremonies for homicide victims in Durham.

Last September, I attended a prayer vigil for Rayshawn Cotton, 29. He was driving on Holloway Street in Durham on March 8, 2010, when he was shot. His car crashed into a tree, and he died two days later at Duke University Hospital.

Cotton’s homicide, one of 25 murders in Durham in 2010, remains unsolved, according to his mother, Betty Cotton, whom I spoke with briefly this morning.

“I take one day at a time,” she said.

The Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham hosted the prayer vigil for Rayshawn Cotton, his family and friends on Sept. 18, 2010, on Hinson Drive in Durham.

The Religious Coalition hosts prayer vigils after homicides “to honor and publicly recognize the human worthiness of the victim, to comfort family and friends,” and “to sanctify and bring healing to the site where the violence occurred,” according to the group’s website.

Since 1997, the Religious Coalition has conducted more than 200 vigils.

In today’s outtake, a local pastor leads prayer and song before family and friends of Cotton release red balloons in Cotton's memory. Anyone with information about the homicide case is asked to call Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.

Police, Residents Go Door-to-Door for Tips in Fatal Shootings

The Durham Police Department and city volunteers canvass June 29 for tips in two fatal shootings. Photo by Leanora Minai.

After two fatal shootings within two weeks of each other in June, officers from the city of Durham Police Department and resident volunteers set out on foot to canvass the two neighborhoods where the homicides occurred. The goal: offer support to the community. The hope: get information, make arrests.

The response was organized by the city's Project Safe Neighborhoods, which combats gun and gang crime through outreach and various programs.

As part of the neighborhood canvasses on June 29, police officers and volunteers visited the 1300 block of Juniper Street, the location of a fatal shooting on June 12. In that case, when officers arrived on scene, they discovered Javier Arreola Rodriguez, 40, shot in the parking lot. He died a short time later at Duke University Hospital.

The second canvass brought police and residents to the area surrouding 1214 Hearthside St, where on June 24, at about 10:30 p.m., three men were shot inside an apartment. "Investigators believe that one or more suspects entered the apartment, shot the victims and fled," according to a flier. Two of the men lived, but Cesar Nava Fuentes, 28, died.

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.