Friends gather to remember slain Mansfield High School cheerleader
Dozens of people gathered Monday afternoon to remember the Mansfield High School cheerleader shot and killed late last week.
A'mya Batie spent a couple of years as a student at Mansfield High School. Her friends walked around the football field, sharing stories and mourning the 16-year-old who died in a Lewisville parking lot.
A’mya was loved in two high school communities because her family moved during her sophomore year. Students at Mansfield High School remembered her in a very special way.
The 16-year old was in a Lewisville parking lot with other students around 10:45 Thursday night when gunfire rang out. A bullet struck and killed her. Police are working to identify the suspect and piece together what prompted the shooting. At this time, investigators have not said who she was with or why she wound up there.
A’mya would have been a senior at Allen High School next semester. But she went to Mansfield High School up until Spring Break of her sophomore year.
"It's something you're not prepared for. Nobody prepares for you for death,” said friend Kelly Ogbonna. “Nobody ever says this is how it’s going to be. One day, this person isn't going to be here. You're just kind of hit with it."
"When I was at my lowest point, I could always count on her to cheer me up, regardless if she was there or not,” said friend Erin Milton. “I could call her and she would be the one to lift me up."
Now, they lift up their friend’s memory symbolically and with heavy hearts.
“Her spirit will be with me every time, every day,” Kelly said. “That's what I'm going to remember most in my heart because she was the most loving kind person I've ever met."