AUSTIN, Texas — When looking back on the young life of 14-year-old Mikalah Franklin, her mom, Teshina Guajardo, has a whole camera roll filled with photographs and videos of her daughter – a daughter who Guajardo said served as the "backbone" in a family of six kids.
"She was very protective over her family, her siblings, me. And in her last moments, that's what she was doing," Guajardo said.
Early Tuesday morning, Austin police said calls came in of multiple shots fired in the area of The Bridge at Harris Ridge Apartments on East Howard Lane. Guajardo said her kids were walking a friend to a rideshare driver. As soon as the rideshare driver pulled away, gunshots fired, leading the kids to run away. Guajardo said Mikalah leaned over to grab her 5-year-old brother.
"My 5-year-old was right next to her when they started shooting, and everyone ran. She probably could have ran, but my baby wouldn't have made it, so she was protecting him and that's how she got shot," Guajardo said. "I looked over and I see her and I just, I knew, I knew that she wasn't going to make it."
Mikalah was taken to Dell Children's Medical Center where she later died. It is a loss and a young life that Guajardo said she will spend the rest of her life wondering about.
"She just was a bright light," Guajardo said. "They took something from me that I can't get back. And they took something from everybody; they took something from this world because I don't know what she would have or could have been."
No one is in custody at this time. If you have any information about this shooting, contact APD's Homicide Unit at 512-974-TIPS or submit your tip anonymously through Capital Area Crime Stoppers online or by calling 512-472-8477. A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help the family.