13-year-old girl shot and killed Saturday lost brother in ’17 shooting
Milwaukee police on Monday identified Nevaeha Ware as the 13-year-old girl who was shot and killed about 6:45 a.m. Saturday.
Ware was a passenger in a vehicle in the 6500 block of West Congress Street when someone in another vehicle fired several shots, striking the girl.
“Our family is in distraught,” Valerie Whittley, a family friend said. “We don’t know what happened.”
Whittley, who spoke on behalf of Ware’s mother, said she remembers the 13-year-old as a fun and happy child.
“She didn’t like to see people sad,” Whittley said.”
Ware’s brother was shot and killed in 2017.
Her experience was featured in a 2017 Journal Sentinel story, when columnist James Causey visited Samuel Clemens Elementary School to talk to third-graders.
He happened to visit on Ware’s first day back at school, three days after her brother was shot in the head and killed. She was 9 at the time.
“I’m hurt and I feel sad,” Ware told Causey, pain filling her wide eyes. “I really don’t know what happened, because I was at my auntie’s house when it happened.”
She paused.
“I just know I miss him.”
Ware told Causey about her dream of being a doctor.
“There are a lot of children who need to go to the doctor, but they can’t afford to go,” she said. “I want to be there for them.”
Causey was at the school working on the project “What Happened to Us,” to see how much changed for third-graders from the time he attended Clemens and was in third grade in 1978.
On Saturday, Ware was driven to a hospital where she died from her injuries.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation.
“It’s heartbreaking knowing that her brother was killed as a result of gun violence and how critically important it is to us as a city … to ensure that as we work to prevent violence as a community,” said Reggie Moore, the director of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention.
Moore’s office offers confidential support for children exposed to violence.
“We should also ensure that youth and families exposed to violence get the support for healing that they need. Any act of violence impacts anyone that loves or is connected to that person.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family pay for funeral expenses.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-9357360 or Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or through P3 Tips App.
In 2020, 25 children were homicide victims in Milwaukee.