Peacing Together: Tonora Jones

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“They shot my house up over 24 times. It was two shooters and a driver. [They] actually got out, stood in the yard, and shot my house up,” said Jones.

More than five of those bullets hit her daughter, ‘Tootie’ Roberts. One of them grazed the 14-year-old’s heart, and she died.

“Just to see my baby lying there lifeless and I couldn’t do anything to save her… that’s what hurts the most. She was innocent, just lying on the sofa watching a movie,” said Jones.

Every day she tries to move forward with life, but some days, she simply can’t.

“I have days that I’m depressed. I’m sad. I’m mad. It’s just hard for me. I still haven’t gotten over it,” she said. “I’ve got a long, long way to go and I don’t think I’ll ever do it. I hate that we have to go through senseless stuff like this, it was senseless.”

Jones says she wishes young people would think twice before picking up a gun.

“You can’t turn to the streets and think you can pick up a gun and solve a problem. That’s not it, because I wouldn’t want anybody to feel the pain that I feel. This is a pain that will never go away,” she said. “What if it was your sister, your daughter, your family member? You would want answers. I want answers because I don’t know…the guys could walk past me and I don’t even know they’re the ones who did it. They’re still out here on the streets and my daughter is out there in the cemetery.”

One person has been charged in connection with the shooting death of Tashuntis ‘Tootie’ Roberts. According to Amy Lee Womack with the district attorney’s office, Terrance Hampton is currently out on bond and no trial date has been set.

In the days after Roberts’ death, investigators were looking for two men in connection with the shooting.

Sergeant Clay Williams with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office says Roberts’ murder is still actively being investigated.