Florida police said the shooting happened after her two brothers argued over Christmas presents. Both teens have been arrested and charged.
LARGO, Fla. — A family is in mourning and trying to process the loss of a loving 23-year-old mom of two during what’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year.
Tuesday night they honored her life with a candlelight vigil. The family spoke out for the first time to 10 Tampa Bay’s Angelina Salcedo. Off camera, her mother Joyce, who was there when the shooting happened said she’s still trying to process it all.
Candles illuminated photos of 23-year-old Abrielle Baldwin and her two babies Jamari, 6 and Amir, 11 months. The family just wants the young mom to know she was loved and her kids are taken care of.
“They’re going to be taken care of regardless,” Arianna Burch said.
The 21-year-old is Abrielle’s younger sister. She said she appreciates the outpouring of support from everyone and is comforted by the love Bree’s family and friends are showing, but she’s still heartbroken.
“She was a really sweet person. She didn’t care about how nobody felt about her. She was just special. She didn’t know people cared about her, she thought nobody cared about her,” Burch said.
The most difficult part of it all was the fact that she lost not just one, but three siblings.
“It’s hard. I feel like everything is destroyed and taken from me,” Burch said.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says an argument between two teen brothers took a sad and violent turn a day before Christmas.
“You’ve got the 14-year-old who’s mad at the 15-year-old because mom isn’t buying equal gifts.”
Deputies say the fight escalated once the family got to their grandmother’s house in unincorporated Largo.
“He takes out the gun and tells him he’s going to shoot him in the head,” Gualtieri said.
Investigators say an uncle took the 14-year-old outside and that’s when Abrielle stepped in. She was shot in the chest by her 14-year-old brother with a 40-caliber semi-automatic gun.
“All she said was, ‘Knock it off. Why are you doing this, it’s Christmas?’ and he goes and puts a bullet in her. Left her to die in the driveway,” Gualtieri said.
Deputies say surveillance cameras captured audio that showed 8 seconds later his 15-year-old brother came outside and shot his brother.
“Shot him one time in the stomach,” Gualitieri said.
Investigators say he ran away and threw the 45-caliber semi-automatic gun he used in a yard nearby.
“He fled to a relative’s house in Clearwater and that’s where we arrested him,” Gualitieri said.
10 Tampa Bay is not naming the teen brothers in this case because of their ages.
The 14-year-old accused of killing his sister is still in the hospital recovering after surgery. He’s charged with 1st degree murder, and could later be charged as an adult. His brother is in a mental health facility, after threatening to take his own life. He’s charged with attempted 1st-degree murder.
A tough loss of all three kids for a family to have to process around the holidays. Now the community is coming together after tragedy, trying to support the family with whatever they need.
