Slain Washington teen remembered
On the day Alexis Barnett attended her grandmother’s funeral, she died of a fatal gunshot wound.
The 19-year-old, who graduated from Washington High School in 2015, is being remembered by family and friends as a determined student and dedicated sister.
“Two of her siblings are deaf, and she helped as an interpreter, and was planning to go to school for something in that field,” said Treg Campbell, Barnett’s English teacher at Wash High.
“I taught her during her junior and senior years. She had a very difficult senior year, and was close to giving up, but she persevered. Her grit, her strength, her smile – these were all things people knew about her.
“And she had such close friends. She was such a lovely young woman. I hope people remember her for resoluteness and her outgoing spirit. She was bright, beautiful and determined to do great things despite anything in her path. She saw what education could do for her,” Campbell said.
Dr. Roberta DiLorenzo, school district superintendent, said the senseless tragedy hit the district hard.
“We have our counselors available, and both staff and students have been visiting with them. We contacted Intermediate Unit 1 for additional help with grief counseling because this is creating such a huge void for our community. She just graduated last year, and she’s very fresh in all our memories. She was preparing for her future and this act of violence snuffs out her future and alters the lives of everyone around her,” DiLorenzo said.
Funeral arrangements are being made with Neal Funeral Home in Washington. A GoFundMe donations collection page created by a family cousin and verified by Barnett’s mother, Anissa Asbury, was set up to help cover the costs of the funeral. The page is at https://www.gofundme.com/22pras4.
Other arrangements by friends and family to memorialize Barnett continued Thursday. Shaqueyah Wilson, Barnett’s cousin, said she would start making bracelets in honor of her, and was organizing a prayer and candle vigil over the weekend.
“Alexis was so heartbroken when her grandma died and she was just healing from it,” Wilson said on Facebook. “Her grandma must (have) needed her more than we did, but no way in hell did she deserve to go like she did.” Jasmine Young, who was with Barnett and was wounded by the gunfire, posted to Facebook getting past the tragedy won’t be easy. “The fact I had to watch my friend beg for her life (in) her last moments (with) her being scared to death (expletive) me up,” Young said.