‘She was a light in a dark place’: Mom shares memories of 15-year-old Amya Monserrant
Amya Monserrant’s family members, classmates, teachers, and officials at her Valley Christian School continue to mourn the shooting death of the 15-year-old girl at a Saturday night birthday party at a restaurant in the south side of the city.
Youngstown police continue to investigate her death and say they have additional leads and tips into what happened that night.
Amya’s mom: ‘I watched her take her last breath’
Amya’s mother, Jaismin Morris, said she was sitting by her daughter at a Sweet 16 birthday party when Amya was shot.
“I watched her take her last breath,” Morris said in a phone call with Mahoning Matters on Wednesday morning.
Morris said her daughter was a caring person.
“She had a pure soul and heart,” Morris said about Amya. “She was a good big sister and a better daughter. She was a light in a dark place.”
Morris said her daughter loved dancing, cooking, eating, and her cousins and mom.
She added that Amya was a cheerleader at Valley Christian School.
Valley Christian School thanks the community for helping students as they returned to school Tuesday
Officials at Valley Christian School cited Psalm 34:17-18 in their statement about Amya’s death: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
“We stand on this promise for Amya’s mom and family as they go through this time of grief and sorrow,” the school shared in a statement. “As we continue to grieve (“not as those without hope”) the loss of our student, and classmate Amya Monserrat, our students returned to school on Tuesday, April 18th for a time of prayer, healing, and counseling. We were overwhelmed and humbled by the outpouring of love and support we received from our community. I cannot adequately express our appreciation for everyone who came to our campus yesterday. We could not have met the many needs of our students without the assistance of grief counselors, area clergy, community leaders, representatives of the Mayor’s office, and CIRV, who “showed up.”
The school said students at the school noticed the community’s efforts.
“I know our students felt safe, secure, and loved just by seeing so many caring adults in the hallways and their classrooms,” the statement read. “We saw, firsthand, how our community comes together in times of tragedy. We realize Tuesday was just the beginning of the healing process for our school community.”
Officials said counseling services will continue to be offered for students throughout the year.
“Because of the generous offering of time and talent from our community, we will be able to continue offering counseling services, as needed, to the students for the remainder of the school year,” they said. “As Christians, we know that God can, and does, bring good out of tragedy. We have already seen that from reports yesterday of students accepting Christ and rededicating their lives to Christ.”
The school added that students had discussed ways to address youth and gun violence in the community.
“As we saw yesterday in the pleading our some of the local officials for change, our prayer is that Amya’s death will be forever memorialized as the start of real change in our community,” the statement read, citing Matthew 19:26, which reads “With God, all things are possible.”
Youngstown police said they are receiving tips and leads into the investigation
“I can tell you that the community is being cooperative in the case and we are receiving many tips and leads,” said Capt. Jason Simon.
Monserrant was killed Saturday when detectives said at least two parties fired guns inside Martha’s Boulevard Tavern after a reported fight at the bar.
At a press conference held Monday, detectives asked the community to provide information.
“We are still asking that anyone with information, video, etc. come forward and provide us information/tips. We can never have too much,” Simon said.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Youngstown Police Department.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 10:48 AM.