Loved ones honored a Philadelphia woman who officials say was shot ten times and killed by her ex-boyfriend hours after she filed a protection from abuse order against him. NBC10’s Leah Uko spoke with the victim’s friends and family during candlelight vigil.
Loved ones gathered on Monday to honor Sahmyra Garcia, a young Philadelphia woman who officials say was shot ten times and killed by her ex-boyfriend near a SEPTA station only hours after she filed a protection from abuse order against him.
“I’m just going to miss her smile, her voice. I’m just going to miss her,” Garcia’s mother, Roseanne Morrison, told NBC10. “Everything about my baby.”
On Nov. 8, Garcia, 20, was on her way to work at a Target store. Garcia was on Broad and Ellsworth streets near the Ellsworth-Federal SEPTA station shortly before 8 a.m. when a gunman opened fire.
Garcia was shot ten times. Responding SEPTA police officers found her lying on the ground and suffering from several gunshot wounds to her chest and stomach. She was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 8:26 a.m. that morning.
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The officers spotted the gunman fleeing the scene and ran after him, investigators said. A SEPTA officer pulled out a weapon and fired, shooting the suspect in the leg. The suspect was taken to Jefferson University Hospital where he was placed in stable condition.
Police identified the gunman as Garcia’s ex-boyfriend, Marques Burney, 41, according to our partners at KYW News Radio.
Garcia had just filed a protection from abuse order against Burney hours before her death, KYW reported.
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“Police wouldn’t come get the restraining order on Sunday when he tried to break into our house and broke down our door and went into our neighbor’s house,” Garcia’s roommate, Kaitlynn Todd, told NBC10.
After filing the protection from abuse order early Tuesday morning, Garcia went directly to the 3rd Police District, according to KYW. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Homicide Unit Supervisor Joanne Pescatore told KYW that police tried to serve the order on Burney but “were not able to.”
Burney has an extensive criminal record that includes charges of terroristic threats, assault and weapons violations, according to KYW. While Burney isn’t allowed to legally possess a firearm due to being a felon, Pescatore told KYW police recovered a ghost gun from his car.
Ghost guns are assembled from kits and do not carry serial numbers. Authorities say they attract criminals and extremists. Their parts can be bought online or at a store as do-it-yourself kits, and their purchase doesn't require a background check. They can be assembled into working firearms in as little as 30 minutes.
A candlelight vigil for Garcia took place Monday outside the Target Store where she worked on Broad Street and Washington Avenue. Garcia’s cousin, Markita McNear, urged both perpetrators and victims of domestic violence to speak up.
“If you’re a perpetrator, you should get help,” McNear said. “If you’re a victim, you should speak out and I don’t care how long it’s been.”
There are additional community resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence. Further information can be found here.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HELP: The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or 800-787-3224 (TTY) provides people in distress, or those around them, with 24-hour support.
