College Student's Family Grieves As Tampa Police Seek Killer

TAMPA, FL -- Tampa Police are asking for help to find the killer of an 18-year-old college student who was fatally shot in Ybor Heights on Sunday.

According to Tampa Police, Takiya Fullwood was found shot around 1:30 a.m. in the 3200 block of North 15th Street after an altercation at a large party. She was rushed to the hospital where she died.

A graduate of East Bay High School in south Hillsborough County where she was a member of the girls' varsity flag football team, Fullwood entered Florida Atlantic University in the fall, majoring in biology, according to her family. She hoped to attend dental school.

"They don’t understand what they took from us," said Fullwood's cousin, Giavanna Fullwood. "She was more than my cousin but my sister and a childhood best friend. The bond that our cousins have is unbreakable and they took a big piece of our puzzle."

"...My niece, an 18-year-old biology student at FAU, was taken away from this earth in a senseless act of violence, to be clear, murder by gun violence on Sunday morning in Tampa," Darrick Fullwood, senior pastor at The Faith Church in Tampa, told members of his congregation on Facebook.

Her family describes her as "outgoing, fun, intelligent and loved by her community."

"She loved her brothers and sisters, her church family, and was a great friend to many. Her life was cut abruptly and violently, and our family and community are devastated," said the family in a prepared statement.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tampa Police at 813-231-6130 or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873-TIPS.

Images via Fullwood family

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