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Family seeking closure months after teen killed at Robbinsdale park: "We will not forget her"

It has been three months since 19-year-old Amarie Alowonle was shot and killed during a large gathering at a Robbinsdale, Minnesota, park.

"Amari was God's child, and she was a very loved child," said her mother, Tatiana Kilgore.

"She was a sweetheart, very smart," said Alowonle's aunt, Maia Yang. "She's a bright light."

Tatiana Kilgore said her daughter was attending a prom send-off, along with dozens of others, at Sanborn Park. It was just before 9:30 p.m. on May 4 when Robbinsdale police said they heard multiple gun shots.

Alowonle and a 20-year-old were shot in the chaos. She died in the hospital a week later.

"Amarie was in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Kilgore. "I don't feel like Amarie deserved this, you know, she was a sweetheart. She's not into any type of criminal activities, no gangs or any of that type of stuff." 

Alowonle's mother and aunt said the teen grew up in Burnsville and taught toddlers. Alowonle graduated with a degree in nails from cosmetology school.

"Amarie's life matters. We want to make sure that the people responsible or person comes to justice," said Yang.

Robbinsdale police said they have been making progress in the investigation while working with people who were there during the shooting. So far, there have been no arrests.

"I just don't want this to be a situation that's like swept under the rug, because there's a lot of other crimes that are being committed right after Amarie that are continuing, and I just feel like it needs to stop," said Kilgore. "I definitely want justice and I hope that it's sitting on their hearts and that something eventually will be done."

Anyone with information on this shooting — or those with surveillance footage around or near Sanborn Park — is asked to call Robbinsdale police at 763-531-1242 or Crime Stoppers of Minnesota at 1-800-222-8477. Videos can be sent by email here.   

If the video file is too large to send, officials say a different link will be sent to submit the footage, or police will send someone to pick up the file. 

State officials are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information. 

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