NEW ORLEANS — A year later and the family of 19-year-old Paige Torregano is still wondering why a group of men would open fire on the teen and her friend while they sat in front of a tire shop.
The case is still unsolved and Torregano’s mother, Kimberly Gentry, is still searching for answers.
“She was an innocent child, I want answers,” said Gentry.
Gentry says her daughter was killed in a senseless tragedy that she believes was a case of mistaken identity.
“It’s hard,” said Gentry. “I miss her every day. Her laugh her smile, just coming in my bathroom everyday just getting on my nerves.”
Wednesday loved ones honored the young woman’s life with a balloon release and shared memories of her short life.
“She was a girl whose life was just beginning,” said Tyrone Brousseau, Torregano’s grandfather. “Now it’s ended, it’s just sad, really sad.”
Police say the double shooting happened last September at the tire shop on Chef Menteur Highway. The other teen in the car was shot in the head but survived.
“It was a shock to me period, when it happened,” said Jane Gentry, Torregano’s grandmother. “I just think about Paige being a good girl. She never bothered anybody. She was always to herself with her sisters.”
Now the family says the focus is keeping her memory alive.
“We're never turning the Paige. It means we're never going to forget about her,” said Gentry.
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