JACKSONVILLE, Fla — UPDATE: Police make arrest in murder of 16-year-old girl at Jacksonville Wawa
Family and friends of Teneria McClendon gathered outside the Wawa on Wilson Boulevard on the Westside Sunday night to hold a vigil for the 16-year-old. She was shot and killed Saturday night outside the convenience store.
"She was a good girl," McClendon's great-aunt, Donna Ghent, said. "She was in advanced classes at school. She didn't bother anybody. She wanted to be a nurse. This is a senseless death. She was a baby."
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the shooting happened after an argument inside the store that escalated in the parking lot. McClendon's family, however, said that's not what happened.
Family members said McClendon and three of her cousins were in the car waiting for her mom who was inside paying. They said the woman who shot McClendon pulled up in her car and almost hit them. Family members said they told the woman she almost hit them and the woman jumped out of the car and yelled at them.
"She's gone. My niece lost her child because somebody got a gun," Ghent said.
According to the family, McClendon's mother, who's pregnant, came out and told them to talk to her, not McClendon. The family said the woman tried to fight McClendon's mother, the teen stood up for her mom and the woman shot the 16-year-old.
"(Teneria McClendon) had a sense of humor," one of McClendon's cousins said. "She liked to laugh and play. She loved lashes and hair. She loved doing hair, period. We're just asking for your prayers and all of the support we can get."
JSO said they're not looking for suspects and everyone involved has been detained, but police haven't announced any arrests.
Duval County 2020 Homicide Tracker