Family, Friends Release Balloons To Mark Anniversary Of Shamiya Adams' Murder

(CBS) -- A young victim of Chicago violence is remembered a year later as balloons are released into the sky, and prayers are said.

It was a year ago that 11-year-old Shamiya Adams was shot inside her West Side home while playing with friends; an unintended victim of neighborhood gang violence raging outside.

One year later, around friends and family members gathered on a nearby vacant lot, releasing balloons and remembering Shamiya.

Her great-grandmother Lourene Miller says gangbangers are throwing away their lives.

"They have lost their freedom," she said. "They can't be with their loved ones when they want to, somebody telling you when to eat, sleep, go to bed, get up. You don't have no freedom anymore. It's sad. Why did you give your life away for that?"

Teenager Tevin Lee has been charged with Shamiya's murder. He is still awaiting trial.