Alyssa Neitz’s Headstone Expenses
Donation protected
On February 23, 2018, 17-year old Alyssa Neitz was tragically killed in a gun related incident. As you can imagine, her family is devastated. She left behind a Mother and two brothers as well as other family members. This sudden, unexpected loss has left the family with many financial burdens including, but not limited to, headstone expenses. If you are able and feel led, any amount, big or small, will be greatly appreciated.
RIP Alyssa Marie (10/11/00 - 2/23/18)
A message from her Mother, Jennifer Neitz:
“I feel like there is so much that could have been done to prevent this tragic situation. Anybody and everybody that knew Alyssa Marie Neitz "Stumpy" knew what a wonderful, loving, unselfish, angelic young lady she was. And she touched so many lives before her own life even got a real chance to begin.
When I first heard the news, it was so unbelievable to me because I was told Alyssa Marie had been shot. That made no sense to me because one of Alyssa's biggest fears was guns. Don't get me wrong, she has been hunting and enjoyed it, but it was with her boyfriend Trevor and family that she always went "hunting" with. It was being around Trevor at the hunting camp with his family that she really enjoyed. They were her second family and Alyssa's love for all animals would never have allowed her to pull the trigger.
The two brothers involved in this event posted multiple pictures on social media platforms for months prior to this, and I'm not at all a person that lives through social media, but I know for a fact there are people in the community young and old who saw these posts. Maybe some tried to bring it to someone's attention or maybe not, but the fact is these boys are 16 and 13 years old. I find it really hard to believe the parents of these boys did not know about the carelessness and disrespect these boys displayed on social media towards guns. I just pray we all take this as a lesson and if we ever see a child or anyone else disrespecting something so powerful and life-threatening as a gun, we do whatever it takes to stop it.
But as I approached the crime scene, I was stopped at the end of the road just as everyone else was and all I knew was my baby girl was hurt. You can only imagine all the emotions that I had, all the fearful and thoughts that were going through my head as I sat at the end of that road wanting just to hold my daughter. I sat there for 45 minutes until finally the worst minute of my entire life, two officers approached me, and as I still sat at the end of the road the officers ask my name and the name of my daughter. I didn't want to say Alyssa Neitz because I knew what they were going to say next. I just fell to the ground, held my hands over my ears like somehow if I didn't hear what they were about to say, then it wouldn't be true. I think it took three or four male officers to pull me back up and all they could do was hold me. Some of the officers even cried with me as well. Nobody knows what to say and I didn't expect them to know or say anything at this point. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to feel. As far as I was concerned, it just could not be real, but unfortunately it was very real. Still at the scene, I was told it was an accidental discharge. My pain was deeply indescribable, more painful than anything I could have imagined because I lost my baby. A part of me was also hurting for the other children involved. I left the scene and went to be around my family waiting for the investigator to come and answer a few questions that I and my family had and needed to be answered. It was around 10 p.m. when the investigator came to see us. Once again, nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to say. By this time, I had heard so many different versions of what happened, but none of them could have prepared me for what the investigator told me and my family. This was in no way an accident. As fearless as Alyssa was, she made it well known her fear of guns. As she sat in the backseat of her best friend’s car, a 13-year old boy entered the back seat with Alyssa, while holding a gun. Alyssa begged him not to bring the gun into the car. She expressed her tremendous fear of guns. At that statement, the 13 year old boy laughed at her, put the gun to her temple, and said ‘it's not even loaded’. That in itself is a crime, it's called an assault with a deadly weapon. As he laughed at her with the gun still pointed at her head, he pulled the trigger. It took .001 of a second and she was gone. So was her fear, and in that moment a 13 year old boy became a murderer. Just that quickly, my baby was lost forever, murdered, and there is no other words to describe how she died. Many, many things could have been done to prevent this, but there are also many lessons that can be learned from this and that is why I feel like Alyssa's story needs to be heard as soon as possible. This was extremely difficult for me to write so soon, but I felt the sooner I get this story out there, the better chance at saving someone else's life it may have. Of course, I want Justice to be served, but nothing will ever bring her back or take away all the pain me and my family are feeling. Hopefully, Justice will be served but more importantly, hopefully our story will save someone else's life.”
Any remaining donations will go towards gun safety, classes and education of gun safety for teenagers and young adults. Alyssa’s passion was always helping others and if one person can be saved by being educated on gun safety, she will forever smile in Heaven and know that she saved someone. Thanks in advance.
RIP Alyssa Marie (10/11/00 - 2/23/18)
A message from her Mother, Jennifer Neitz:
“I feel like there is so much that could have been done to prevent this tragic situation. Anybody and everybody that knew Alyssa Marie Neitz "Stumpy" knew what a wonderful, loving, unselfish, angelic young lady she was. And she touched so many lives before her own life even got a real chance to begin.
When I first heard the news, it was so unbelievable to me because I was told Alyssa Marie had been shot. That made no sense to me because one of Alyssa's biggest fears was guns. Don't get me wrong, she has been hunting and enjoyed it, but it was with her boyfriend Trevor and family that she always went "hunting" with. It was being around Trevor at the hunting camp with his family that she really enjoyed. They were her second family and Alyssa's love for all animals would never have allowed her to pull the trigger.
The two brothers involved in this event posted multiple pictures on social media platforms for months prior to this, and I'm not at all a person that lives through social media, but I know for a fact there are people in the community young and old who saw these posts. Maybe some tried to bring it to someone's attention or maybe not, but the fact is these boys are 16 and 13 years old. I find it really hard to believe the parents of these boys did not know about the carelessness and disrespect these boys displayed on social media towards guns. I just pray we all take this as a lesson and if we ever see a child or anyone else disrespecting something so powerful and life-threatening as a gun, we do whatever it takes to stop it.
But as I approached the crime scene, I was stopped at the end of the road just as everyone else was and all I knew was my baby girl was hurt. You can only imagine all the emotions that I had, all the fearful and thoughts that were going through my head as I sat at the end of that road wanting just to hold my daughter. I sat there for 45 minutes until finally the worst minute of my entire life, two officers approached me, and as I still sat at the end of the road the officers ask my name and the name of my daughter. I didn't want to say Alyssa Neitz because I knew what they were going to say next. I just fell to the ground, held my hands over my ears like somehow if I didn't hear what they were about to say, then it wouldn't be true. I think it took three or four male officers to pull me back up and all they could do was hold me. Some of the officers even cried with me as well. Nobody knows what to say and I didn't expect them to know or say anything at this point. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know how to feel. As far as I was concerned, it just could not be real, but unfortunately it was very real. Still at the scene, I was told it was an accidental discharge. My pain was deeply indescribable, more painful than anything I could have imagined because I lost my baby. A part of me was also hurting for the other children involved. I left the scene and went to be around my family waiting for the investigator to come and answer a few questions that I and my family had and needed to be answered. It was around 10 p.m. when the investigator came to see us. Once again, nothing could have prepared me for what he was about to say. By this time, I had heard so many different versions of what happened, but none of them could have prepared me for what the investigator told me and my family. This was in no way an accident. As fearless as Alyssa was, she made it well known her fear of guns. As she sat in the backseat of her best friend’s car, a 13-year old boy entered the back seat with Alyssa, while holding a gun. Alyssa begged him not to bring the gun into the car. She expressed her tremendous fear of guns. At that statement, the 13 year old boy laughed at her, put the gun to her temple, and said ‘it's not even loaded’. That in itself is a crime, it's called an assault with a deadly weapon. As he laughed at her with the gun still pointed at her head, he pulled the trigger. It took .001 of a second and she was gone. So was her fear, and in that moment a 13 year old boy became a murderer. Just that quickly, my baby was lost forever, murdered, and there is no other words to describe how she died. Many, many things could have been done to prevent this, but there are also many lessons that can be learned from this and that is why I feel like Alyssa's story needs to be heard as soon as possible. This was extremely difficult for me to write so soon, but I felt the sooner I get this story out there, the better chance at saving someone else's life it may have. Of course, I want Justice to be served, but nothing will ever bring her back or take away all the pain me and my family are feeling. Hopefully, Justice will be served but more importantly, hopefully our story will save someone else's life.”
Any remaining donations will go towards gun safety, classes and education of gun safety for teenagers and young adults. Alyssa’s passion was always helping others and if one person can be saved by being educated on gun safety, she will forever smile in Heaven and know that she saved someone. Thanks in advance.
Organizer and beneficiary
Robin Edgeworth
Organizer
Monroe, LA
Jennifer Neitz
Beneficiary