Jada Sellers' family remembers life, legacy of 17-year-old honor student killed in Baltimore
The past month has been devastating for the family of Jada Sellers, the 17-year-old Milford Mill Academy honor student who was shot in Baltimore on July 31. For 12 days, doctors fought to save her life at Shock Trauma.
This weekend, her parents and siblings are preparing for her funeral.
Ahead of their farewell, they sat down with CBS News Baltimore to speak about Jada's life and legacy.
"Jada's my angel"
Jada Sellers was the baby of the family but had a heart as big as her spirit.
"I remember she would come home and say, 'The queen is home.' I said, 'I'm the queen. You're the princess.' And you know what? Now I'm looking at it like she's the angel," said her mother Latarsha Sellers.
Her mom named her after Jada Pinkett, the up-and-coming actress she met in 7th grade at the Baltimore School for the Arts.
"[Pinkett] actually became great at a time when most Black women never got on television, and so, when Jada was born, I said I'm going to name you Jada because I want you to know you can do anything you want to. Anything! And Jada lived up to the name," Latarsha Sellers told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren from her Baltimore County home Thursday.
Sellers father, Eric Sellers Sr., told Hellgren, "My friends always joked that she was the smallest, but she was the leader. She was always in charge."
He remembers her growing up singing in the church and shared a video of his daughter swimming in the pool as a child. He said watching it has brought him comfort after her death.
"She's jumping in the water, the deep part. She had her little swimmers on her arms. She was so happy," her father said.
Her parents still feel her presence today. They have left her bedroom exactly as it was before her death.
"Jada's my angel and that's how I'm looking at this at this point. I'm sad, but I really feel like Jada is right here with me because Jada is awesome. She is awesome," Latarsha Sellers said.
She recounted how her daughter recently spoke about going away to Texas for college and remembered her confidence, intelligence, and athleticism.
Her daughter was Milford Mill Academy's student government and National Honor Society vice president.
"She was just a go-getter naturally because that's who she was. She lived up to her name. She could do anything she put her mind to," her mother said.
"This wasn't supposed to happen"
Jada Sellers spent agonizing days in the hospital after she was shot, fighting for her life.
"Without the love, this would've been ten times harder," Latarsha Sellers said. "This was already shocking. I understand why they call it Shock Trauma now because this was a shock. This is hard. Every day I wake up to the same nightmare. Every single day, it's the same nightmare."
The family declined to speak about the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.
Police identified Christian Hursey, Sellers' 18-year-old ex-boyfriend, as their sole suspect. They said he shot her outside a home in Edmondson Village, a homicide captured on security cameras.
Hursey then went on the run. Baltimore police described him as armed and dangerous.
Authorities said Hursey killed himself as a Baltimore County SWAT Team moved in to serve a warrant at his family's home one week ago.
Court records show when Hursey was a child, his own mother was killed at the hands of his father following years of abuse.
"There's nothing you can do with anger. There's nothing you can do with it," Latarsha Sellers said. "But what we're going do is focus on our happy moments, our happy times, and doing the things that Jada would want us to do, which is love."
Jada Sellers' father told CBS News Baltimore, "Parents and kids have to communicate. That's just what I'll say, you have to communicate with your parents."
Siblings share heartbreak
Jada Sellers' siblings later joined their parents to speak about their memories.
"I just want to say, 'Jada, I love you so, so, so m, so much, and it was an honor being your big sister. I just love you,'" her older sister Jasmine told Hellgren as she wore a pink hat with the words "Big Sister" emblazoned on the front.
Her brother Eric Sellers Jr. said the family is focusing on the positive as they heal.
"She liked to have fun, and that's what made this household so fun—because Jada would always be smiling. She never stopped smiling, even when bad situations happened, she would just keep smiling through it," her brother said. "Jada is the life of the room. Now, the outpouring of love that's happening is because of Jada. We're all hurt. We don't really know how to feel."
Sellers was also a proud aunt and doted on her nephew.
"She would always find a way to get our family together, and I think that really comes through in these times because she hasn't left us," said her sister-in-law Aliyanna Sellers. "She's still working on the family."
And they will never forget her.
"I've got to do something with the pain, and for me, it's thinking of her as an angel," Sellers' mother said. "She's my angel."
She told WJZ her daughter was baptized in recent years, and her faith provides her with comfort.
The funeral is Saturday morning at New Antioch Baptist Church in Windsor Mill. Visitation is set for Friday at Messiah Community Church in Reisterstown.
You can watch the extended interview with Jada Sellers' family here.
