MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — It’s been more than two years since a mass shooting at an event center that took the lives of two young women: Quantasia Grant and Kaitlyn Jenkins.
Wednesday, Jenkins’ family spoke out for the first time since that night, sharing the raw emotions of what losing a sister and daughter to gun violence feels like and how they are honoring her legacy.
“That person is gone and your life changes forever,” said Kaitlyn’s mother, Pearlie Jenkins. “It’s not just that day….it’s forever.”
Her mom and sister still remember that day vividly: a birthday party turned mass shooting, with several people injured and two people dead, including Kaitlyn.
They said they had just moved her into her new dorm at Alabama A&M.
“We were headed back to Birmingham, and she called and asked me about some coffee, and she was like ‘what was that coffee that you had that I was drinking when iI was home?” said Pearlie.
That was the last conversation they had with her.
“It was a simple and a meaningless one at the time, but now those few seconds on the phone are ones the two will look back on and cherish forever.
“Just not knowing that was my last conversation.. that was the last time hearing my child,” said Pearlie.
They describe her as full of life….someone who believed in you more than you believe in yourself.
“She was a cheerleader for everybody,” she said.
That’s why they’ve started a foundation in her honor: love like KJ.
“We try to get people together that have experienced loss, not only through gun violence, and we do a grief and growth,” said Pearlie.
Since that dark January day, they have made it a point to make the four-hour drive back to Madison County. They’ve shown up for court appearances for the men who are charged with her murder.
While it’s not easy, they said it’s a way of keeping her legacy alive.
“I would rather relive this pain over and over and get my sister justice than to like let it die with her,” said Kaitlyn’s sister Isia.
“There is not a moment that passes that we don’t think about her, and I just pray that our lives continue to reflect her love to the community and we just continue to keep her name alive.”
They attended the status conference for Ashton Elliot Wednesday. He is one of the men who was arrested and charged with her death in the days following the shooting.
His status hearing was pushed back another 90 days. It was pushed back to allow the defense and prosecution more time to sift through the evidence after Madison County Sheriff’s Office investigators testified they recovered over “200” shell casings from shots fired that night.
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