WARREN, Ohio - Warren police are searching for the killer of a 17-year-old girl.
The victim was shot in the head over the weekend and died a short time later.
According to the victim's family, 17-year-old Zeboney Bess was innocently walking to meet a friend when she was gunned down just blocks away from her home.
A frantic 911 call was made from a resident on Hamilton Street SW. The caller told the emergency dispatcher she heard arguing and then a gunshot just after 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night.
The teen was found lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the head.
Zeboney's nephew says she had passed the test for the Air Force and had just turned 17 last month.
Zandra Bess is one of the victim's sisters, "Once you met her you would never forget her. Cause she talked just that much. She was chatty, chatty, chatty," Bess said.
According to initial police reports, the victim allegedly had been having problems with an ex-boyfriend. Her sister tells 21 News Zeboney took a walk to meet a friend and was just down the road from her home when the crime happened.
Police say they're determined to find out who would gun down a 17-year-old girl. Sergeant Jeff Cole with the Warren Police Department is asking for the public's help, "We're just asking for anybody who may have heard something, knows the victim, had talked to her just prior to the shooting. Anything that they could do to help solve this. It's especially disheartening; she was just 17-years-old."
Within feet of the crime scene a local church is already focused on making change. The pastor at Agape Assembly Church says his heart is broken for the teenager and her family and that's why his ministry is trying to provide alternatives.
The Summer Recreation Program at the Warren church is open to young people from ages eight to 18 and not only offers fun in the form of basketball and other sports, but mentoring. It's just one effort to stop the violence.
"Alternative programming, intervention for children who haven't gotten to that place yet, teenagers who may be dealing with some of the stresses, some of the circumstances. The goal is to try and draw them out and look at the more positive side of life. To hopefully not be engaged in this type of crime, or be a victim of this type of crime," said Pastor Todd Johnson.
As for Zeboney's family, they want justice. The victim's sister Zandra Bess says, "She was only 17. It was never that serious to do what they did to her and she didn't deserve that."
Because Zeboney was taken by helicopter to St. Elizabeth's Health Center in Youngstown, the Mahoning County Coroner will evaluate the body.
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