Keep on smiling girl

Today, a friend of mine shared a tragic story with me about the death of a young woman named Fantasia Byrd.  After reading the article in the AJC, it seemed like Fantasia Byrd had fem-fATL qualities so it was hard to hear about someone so young and beautiful with such a zest for life and independence.  At the ripe age of 20, she graduated from college and moved away from the chaos and violence of the big apple (NYC) to the slower-paced, southern capitol of Georgia… our very own ATL.  She came to our city to be with family and to get a jump start on her emerging adulthood.  Two weeks into her life in Atlanta, the young lady was shot in the head while playing a board game… and officials have good reason to believe that she was not even the intended target!  I mean, I could care less who the “intended” target was… this violence is unacceptable, period.  The fact that an innocent life was lost because of this crime completely upsets me!  It is crazy to think that stupid stuff like this happens to good people.  I’ve never met her, but my heart goes out to her and her family.  (  on behalf of fem-fATL … R.I.P. Fantasia Byrd.  

Straight from the AJC:

After spending her entire life in Yonkers, Fantasia Byrd decided to explore the world, starting in Atlanta. The 20-year-old had just graduated from community college.

“She wanted to see what the world has to offer,” her uncle, Jerry Williams, said Monday.

Byrd’s life ended just two weeks into that journey, killed when a barrage of bullets was fired into a Roswell apartment.

Byrd, her cousin and three others were playing a board game in her cousin’s Chattahoochee Landing apartment around 3 a.m. Sunday. From the parking lot, someone fired at least 20 rounds at the apartment, Roswell police said.

One shot hit Byrd in the head.

“We believe it was not a random shooting, and we also believe that the victim was not the intended target,” Sgt. Bobby Brackett said.

He would not elaborate on the possible target.

Remarkably, no one else was hurt.

“The apartment below was struck, vehicles in the parking lot were struck and some rounds went through the apartment,” Brackett said.

Byrd had moved in with her father in Dacula and was working at Oilily, a women’s and children’s clothing store at Phipps Plaza. She enjoyed working in retail because she was outgoing, her uncle said. And she was already interviewing for a second job.

“She never worked one job,” Williams said. “She was always like, ‘I can do more.’ She’d work four hours at one job, eight hours at another.”

Her relatives in Georgia were thrilled to have her here, and “she had gotten off to a great start. Everything was falling into place.”

The killing has left Byrd’s mother “torn to pieces,” Williams said.

“One of the most important things we’re going to take away is how a strong a person Fantasia was at 20 years old, and that million-dollar smile.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Roswell Police at 770-640-4100 or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS.