NEW ORLEANS — Purple and white balloons took flight over Lake Pontchartrain in memory of 24-year-old Jezreel Poleate.
Saturday, her loved ones gathered on the New Orleans lakefront to remember her as a fun-loving, God-fearing young woman who lifted spirits and loved life.
“She was always positive,” said Coach Skip Lamothe who taught Poleate at L.B. Landry High School. “Always looking like someone who was having fun and happy. She had a spirit like no other and you couldn’t break it.”
“She’s in a better place,” said Robyan Davis, Poleate’s cousin. “Life is unfair, but she wouldn’t want us to be out here like this.”
Poleate died during a mass shooting outside Republic NOLA, a nightclub on South Peter Street in the Warehouse District, late Sunday night.
The shooting left 11 others injured.
Poleate’s mother and father had a message for the killer who remains on the run.
“Just turn yourself in,” Sharon Poleate, Jezreel’s mother said. “We forgive you. We don’t have any hard feelings for it. Something good is going to come out of Jezreel’s death. I know it.”
“I just want to say to all of those that committed this crime, think about it,” Gary Poleate, Jezreel’s father said. “Think about what you’ve done. You hurt another family. You destroyed our family.”
Jezreel’s family and friends are grieving a tremendous loss, but they say they are also grieving for a city where unfortunately this kind of violence is all too common.
“This is a city we all grew up in,” John Poleate, Jezreel’s brother said. “It’s a city that we all loved. This is out of hand. This is ridiculous.”
“We’re going to call her name Jezreel, Jezreel, Jezreel, Jezreel,” her mother said.
Police continue to search for suspects in the shooting.
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