Shooting victim was 'an excellent mother'

August 03, 2006|by KAREN HANNA

HAGERSTOWN - A Hagerstown woman who was killed in the first block of East Franklin Street likely was headed home to her baby when gunfire erupted, her stepmother said Wednesday.

"She was just loved by everybody, so I don't understand why this had to happen. I don't see her having any kind of enemies at all," Talita Rodriguez, 35, said as she sat across the street from a memorial to her stepdaughter.

Trisiviah Rodriguez, 20, died early Monday. Demetrius "Meech" Pierre McDaniels, 27, of 1052 D Noland Drive in Hagerstown, remained behind bars on murder charges Wednesday night.

According to family members and friends, Rodriguez was planning to start classes to become a medical assistant.

Friends and family held a sign Wednesday asking for donations to help support her daughter, Taliss, who they said turned 4 months old Tuesday.

"She was an excellent mother. I never seen no one love their children just like I love my children. You're just like so excited to be a mom," said Talita Rodriguez, the mother of two daughters and a son.

Strangers and neighbors offered water, food, money and hugs as they walked past the donation site. Across the street, near a building at 65 E. Franklin St., flowers and teddy bears marked the spot where Rodriguez said she saw her stepdaughter lying after shots rang out.

"You didn't see her without a smile. If you saw her without a smile, it was because she was going through another trial or tribulation in her life, but that's everyone. She was a beautiful kid, very lovable," said Carla Dorm, 37, who worked with Rodriguez at the Serenity hair salon next to The Dagmar Hotel.

According to Talita Rodriguez, Trisiviah Rodriguez left her daughter with her stepsister at her home on East Antietam Street while she went out friends. At about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Talita Rodriguez, who lives at 53 E. Franklin St., said she went up the street to a store. Trisiviah Rodriguez, who was with a group of friends outside, waved to her stepmother and said Taliss was at home, Talita Rodriguez said.

Moments after returning home, Talita Rodriguez said she heard gunfire. She said she worried immediately that her stepdaughter was hit.

"It seems like the way she was headed - because she was headed up this side of the block - she was headed home, and she never made it," Rodriguez said.

As darkness fell Wednesday, candles at the memorial to Trisiviah Rodriguez continued to glow, and a lone police officer made his rounds by bicycle.

|

|

|