Brother of Shooting Victim: Sister Was Working To "Restore" Her Life

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- To Clarence Ford, Friday, Nov. 25 will be forever etched into his mind as the worst day of his life.

Ford, the brother of the young woman who was killed last week in a double shooting in Sandy Springs, said the traumatic experience of losing his younger sister, 25-year-old Cierra Ford, will be one that will stick with him as long as he lives.

"Over the holidays, you celebrate (with) your family and friends," he said. "You just don’t expect things like that to happen."

Ford, along with 21-year-old Tyrique Lobban, were both shot in the northern part of the city just hours before daybreak Friday. Police were dispatched to the scene around 3 a.m. Nov. 25 and found Ford deceased and Lobban injured.

Lobban remains in critical, yet stable, condition at the hospital.

Clarence Ford said his family is relying on one another to remain strong throughout the ordeal. His mother, unsurprisingly, is taking the news the hardest, but has the support of friends and family to help her make sense of the events.

Along with providing the emotional support, friends are also rallying around efforts to help the family pay for Ford's funeral expenses. The Cierra's Funeral Fundraiser campaign has been created on GoFundMe, and has a goal of raising $15,000. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $7,600 has been donated to the fund.

"Cierra was intelligent, charismatic, and she had vibrant sense of humor that resonated with her friends and family," the GoFundMe page states.

Ford said his sister was on the path to "restore" her life through education. After making some "bad decisions" following her graduation from Berkeley High School, Cierra got her head in the game and enrolled in Contra Costa Community College in California.

Following that achievement, Ford said his sister enrolled at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta to continue her studies in communications with the goal of becoming a journalist. Ford also said his sister wanted to use her experience with growing up around gun violence as a way to educate the public on what it's like for young people living in those environments.

"We know that education is one the best ways to combat poverty and recidivism," Ford said, noting his sister performed well in school.

Mario Boone, media relations manager for Clark Atlanta University, said Cierra Ford enrolled as a junior at the college for the fall 2016 semester as a speech communications major.

“We definitely send our sympathies and condolences to the family," he said.

Sandy Springs police say they believe robbery may have been a motive in the shooting, but have said they are working every angle of all the leads that come the agency's way, Capt. Mike Lindstrom previously told Patch.

Along with finding the perpetrators behind his sister's death, Ford said he is also hopes the sudden and tragic loss will draw attention to the impact gun violence has on various communities across the country.

On a personal level, Ford stated his sister's sense of humor, her positive demeanor and her caring heart will continue to live on among the many lives she touched.

“She was young, but to her friends, she was like a big sister and was always giving them advice and (a) guiding voice.”

Anybody with information about the shooting is asked to contact Detective W. Johnson at (770) 551-3314.

To remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers Greater Atlanta by calling 404-577-TIPS (8477), visiting www.crimestoppersatlanta.org or texting tip information to 274637 (CRIMES).

Images via Clarence Ford