ATLANTA — Dozens of friends, family, and strangers gathered Sunday night while holding purple and white balloons and candles to remember 35-year-old Tonya White.
The Atlanta native leaves behind three daughters and a son - two high schoolers, one middle schooler, and a four-year-old, according to her family. At Sunday's vigil, White's family identified her as the person killed Thursday in Morrow at the Regal Forest Apartments on Trammell Road.
Clayton County Police declined to confirm the name of the victim on Sunday.
On Thursday at the apartment complex, Clayton County Police said they responded to reports of a person being shot, found one deceased victim, and then a gunman who was barricaded inside an apartment unit. That person was eventually taken into custody.
11Alive asked Clayton County Police on Sunday if they could confirm the identity of the person arrested and declined, with a spokesman citing "the sensitive nature of this investigation."
However, Clayton County jail records show a man arrested at the apartment complex on Sunday has been charged with malice murder, possession of a firearm during a crime, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. That person is currently being held without bond.
"Devastated, heartbroken," White's sister Gabrielle Grubbs said at Sunday's vigil. "Trying to keep it together for her kids, my kids, and her mom. Trying to stay strong."
Grubbs said while her sister was raising four children and she would always still find ways to give to others in need, even complete strangers.
"She was very giving, if she saw a child in need she would give to it," Grubbs said. "Just last year for Christmas I told her about a couple of kids that didn't have anything. She literally went to her trunk and gave them everything she had. She even gave up her apartment one time for a family that was in need. She was very loving."
The crowd at Sunday's vigil was possibly a couple of hundred people deep. White's brother said the turnout and seeing people he had lost touch with over the years was giving him strength during a time of grief.
"I just told one of our childhood friends I haven't seen in almost 10 years that just seeing their face just knowing that they love her, just keeps us going," Gregory White said. "It keeps us strong."
Even though the purple and white balloons were released and floated away, White's family will now always hold on to their memories of her and never let those moments leave them.
"She was very loving, she would try to do anything for anybody, she was very giving," Grubbs said.
White's family has started an online fundraiser to pay for her funeral expenses.