Stamford mother ‘enjoyed a great life’
Shernetta Dunmore, killed in a shooting Sunday, leaves behind many friends in the city — and a 14-year-old son
STAMFORD — The last time Shernetta Dunmore spoke with her big brother was Friday.
Shernetta, 35, wanted to discuss how to keep older brother Jamal, 43, as a mentor in her 14year-old son’s life.
She asked for Jamal, a physical education teacher at the Christian Heritage School in Trumbull and a standout basketball player for Westhill High School in the ’90s, to help her prepare her son for his four years of high school.
On Saturday evening, Shernetta Dunmore, who lived on Henry Street, joined a group of city residents celebrating the end of summer at Cummings Park. When the park closed, people moved to a parking lot of the Ursula Place Housing Complex just off Cove Road.
It was there, just after midnight, that gunfire erupted. Dunmore was shot numerous times. She was rushed to Stamford Hospital, but succumbed to her injuries.
“She enjoyed a great life. She had a ton of love for the community and she was my best friend,” Jamal Dunmore said.
While his sister was born and raised in Stamford, she ended up graduating from Bassick High School in Bridgeport and then went to Maine where she became a Jobs Corps graduate and learned about the culinary arts, he said.
Before she died, Shernetta Dunmore was working a security job to make ends meet and create a good life for her son, he said, adding his sister will be greatly missed in the Stamford community where she had a “ton of friends.”
On the night she died, Shernetta Dunmore was out trying to have a good time in what has been a trying year.
“She was pushing through what a lot of us are going through as a country and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” her brother said.
On Monday, Jamal Dunmore called for witnesses to the shooting to come forward to tell authorities what they know about the incident.
“The city has a confident mentality and if Stamford is the stand-up town as we believe, we are asking as a family for them to step up,” he said. “I’m believing the community will stand up for our family and I believe the individuals will be brought to justice.”
Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin said police were in the process of identifying people who were there and compiling other evidence.
“We would like people to come forward,” Conklin said. “We have to implore them because an innocent mother lost her life during this situation. We really want to seek justice for her and her family and the community.”
Two Stamford men, ages 43 and 27, were also struck by bullets in the shooting. One of those men turned up at Bridgeport Hospital and the other at Stamford Hospital.
Conklin said said about 30 shots were fired in the incident.
“It is really troubling, the amount of shots that were taken, probably in the neighborhood of about 30, and numerous guns were pressed into use in this situation. It is really troubling,” he said.
Conklin said there were dozens of people in the parking lot at the time the shooting began. As well as the video, he said investigators are still canvassing the area looking for more witnesses, and people are beginning to talk about what they saw.
Conklin asked that anyone with information please call investigators working the case at 203 977-4417.