AUSTIN, Texas — The weight of grief is now resting on the shoulders of Za'Riyah Sheffield's family after the 16-year-old was shot and killed Monday by a 16-year-old boy at the Bridge at Harris Ridge Apartments on East Howard Lane in northeast Austin.
"Bro, you took my life. That was my friend, my best friend, my angel," Za'Riyah's father Adrian Sheffield said.
Police say the suspect accused Za'Riyah of simply looking at him.
"There's no other person out here in the whole world that's like Za'Riyah," her mother Wanakee White said. "She was the best thing in the world, like, for her to be taken ... I don't know."
Za'Riyah was a student at Connally High School who dreamed of working in business. Her aunt Neisha Sheffield has lost her voice from crying.
"My baby not going to text me anymore. My life is going to be so different," Neisha Sheffield said. "He didn't just cheat my baby out of her life. He cheated her entire family, out of the best thing all of us have ever had."
Another aunt, Unique Bowser, is left clinging to Za'Riyah's memory.
"To know her is to love her. And to know love," Bowser said. "Because that's all she was gonna give. That's all she giving to anybody."
Fellow family member Terrie Fisher says those memories are now all they have left.
"The choices that are no longer there for her to have and the opportunity in life, they're gone and they're gone forever," Fisher said.
Za'Riyah's family says information about her services will come at a later time. To help pay for it, her family set up a GoFundMe.
Pflugerville ISD mourns Za'Riyah's death
The school district confirmed Thursday that Za'Riyah was a student at Connally High School.
"It is with a heavy heart that we share the heartbreaking news of the unexpected loss of one of our students [Monday] night. We know this is an incredibly difficult time for our students, families, and staff, and our hearts are with everyone affected by this tragedy," the district said, in part.
The district also said it would have support for students and staff with crisis counselors and social workers available on campus for as long as they're needed.