Family honors 22-year-old Little Rock homicide victim with balloon release

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The family of a woman killed over the weekend gathered on Thursday to mourn and honor their loved one.

Makylia Matthews was just 22 years old when she was shot and killed on Sunday, June 23.

Police said the homicide took place in the 500 block of East 22nd Street. Family and friends gathered in the exact spot where Makylia took her last breath for the balloon release.

As blue balloons float to the blue sky in honor of Makylia, her family is reminded of the rainy afternoon on the day she was killed.

“To see somebody that I love taken away in a tragic way, I’m still trying to process that,” Makylia’s sister, Ashley Sanders, said.

Makylia was the youngest of four sisters and was killed three days after her 22 ^nd birthday.

“I just never thought somebody would do that,” Sanders said in disbelief.

Makylia’s three sisters say she was goofy, funny, smart, positive and most of all, loving.

“She could love anybody,” sister Jabreuna Turner said. “Anybody that came around, my sister could love you with open arms.”

The family said they are going to stay positive because they said they know where their sister is headed.

“I know our sister went to heaven,” Sanders said. “She went to a better place. She had a beautiful spirit.”

Little Rock police said there have been 19 homicides in the city this year. Out of those 19, at least seven victims were killed before turning 30 years old.

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