Services for Tanaya Gilbert will be held July 21 and 22 at First AME Church at 14th and Pine. There will be a viewing July 21 from 5-8 p.m., and the service starts at 11 a.m. the following day.
Gilbert was sitting in a parked car in Rainier Beach with some friends July 13 when shots were fired at the vehicle and other vehicles nearby. Three people were shot, but not critically injured. Gilbert, who was 19 years old and seven weeks pregnant, was killed.
Tanaya Gilbert
One teen, William R. Myles, was arrested and charged as an adult after firing a shot at a vigil for Gilbert the night following her shooting, according to the Seattle Times. A couple days later, a person of interest in Gilbert’s shooting, Kenneth Harding, was shot and killed by San Francisco police after he allegedly fired at them after he tried to evade a transit fare. UPDATE: SFPD now says Harding may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In the midst of all the violence, the Rainier Beach community came together July 20 for a 1.3-mile “prayer walk” through the neighborhood where Gilbert was shot.
“We want to make a statement that violence in this community is not the final word,” prayer walk organizer Rev. Jane Pauw of Rainier Beach Presbyterian Church told the Seattle Times.
SPD does have their mobile command center in the parking lot of First AME Church, so there will likely be a police presence at the services.
I am trying to figure out which is more sad, the loss of this young life, or the fact that a paddywagon has to be present at the funeral to try and preempt further violence.
LOST OF LIFE NO MATTER HOW OLD IS VERY SAD,BUT WHEN U KNOW THE PERSON ITS EVEN MORE SAD. IVE KNOWN HER ALMOST ALL OF HER LIFE AND I STILL CANT UNDERSTAND WHY HER! AND TO KNOW SHE WAS WITH CHILD IS EVEN MORE HURTFUL TO KNOW THAT TWO LIVES NOT ONE WAS TAKEN FROM HER FAMILY.TO MAKE IT WORST THE POLICE WILL BE THERE AT HER FUNERAL,I WISH THEY WAS THERE WHEN THIS WAS SHOOTING THIS GUN IN TO THE CAR AND MAYBE SHE WOULD STILL BE HERE.. SORRY TA’NAYA YOUR LIFE WAS CUT SHORT BUT I HAVE SOME GRANNYS UP THERE THAT WILL KEEP YOU COMPANY…SAVE ME A CHAIR! LOVE YOU NAYA FROM MS DIONNE&DAWN JONES,SHARA,ONNA,QUORY,…. ZEKE……….