On an East Bay Teenager Lost to Gun Violence 23 Years Ago
We lose too many children to firearms — because anything over a single life is unacceptable.
In 1999 I lost my 13-year-old niece to gun violence. She was a vibrant, sassy, young person, whose laughter and smile always brightened my visits to the East Bay. She was also a smart ass. (Though, I have no clue where she got that kind of attitude from.)
There was a party for one of her friends at the home that my niece shared with her two older sisters, younger brother, and parents. She was hanging out on the porch with two teenage friends — ages 15 and 16 years old, at the time — on that cold late-winter night in February. The two young boys were horsing around with a gun. They were pointing it at each other, pointing it at passing cars, and then one of them pointed it at my niece. I ...
