7 October 2023
The mother of a 12-year-old St. Paul girl whose friends were shot, one fatally, this week is pleading for anyone who knows where her daughter is to get in touch so the girl can come home.
Police say the girl was last seen when officers dropped her off at her house the night of the shooting.
It is believed that the girl then left her home and went into hiding.
“She says she doesn’t feel safe,” her mother, Shaquantae Bates, said Saturday during a news conference held at the site of the shooting.
On Wednesday about 7:45 p.m., multiple 911 callers and an officer on patrol reported hearing gunshots, which led officers outside an apartment building on Hazelwood Street near East Maryland Avenue.
Officers found 14-year-old Monica Joy Holley, two other girls, 13 and 15 years old, and a 19-year-old woman had been shot outside the apartment building. Paramedics took them to the hospital. Monica died. The other victims have injuries that aren’t life-threatening, police said.
Monica Joy Holley (Courtesy of the family)
Nasiy Nasir X, national chairman of the Lion of Judah Armed Forces and leader of the New Black Panther Nation Minnesota, held the news conference with the missing girl’s mother Saturday in front of a memorial that had been erected at the shooting site.
“She was the only one that wasn’t shot, but she witnessed Monica being shot in front of her and came to Monica’s aid when Monica was bleeding until the ambulance came,” he said. “After the ambulance arrived, she didn’t feel safe giving any information on what was taking place and what was going on. After that, she disappeared.”
A runaway report has been filed, said police spokesman Mike Ernster, who said that the 12-year-old was last seen when officers dropped her off at her home later on the night of the shooting. Her mother has told officers she believes her daughter “is in a safe location, but they just don’t know where and since then mom is having trouble locating her,” he said.
Ernster said the girl’s friends have been in touch with the mother and have been “relaying info to her mom that she is OK. Mom has been trying to find her, but under the circumstances, we want to help mom get her home safe and sound.”
During the news conference where a memorial of balloons, candles and stuffed animals had been set up, the mother pleaded for her daughter to come home.
“Just come home. That’s all I can say is come home. You’re safe,” Bates said. “You gotta come home. We can be put up somewhere (to stay). Just come home. If you don’t feel safe, if you feel like you know something … just please come home. We got you from there.”
Flanked by two members of the Lion of Judah Armed Forces, Nasiy Nasir X, national chairman of the Lion of Judah Armed Forces and leader of the New Black Panther Nation Minnesota, and Shaquantae Bates, the mother of a missing girl, ask the public for help in bringing her home safely. October 7, 2023. (Pioneer Press)
Nasir X asked anyone who might have the girl to send her home.
“Please send her home. She’s only 12 years old. How do you expect a mother to feel about a daughter who disappears for three days and doesn’t call or contact her, especially after one girl was murdered and three other girls shot?” he asked. “This is ridiculous. If you have her in your home or around you, if you know where she’s at, send her home to her mother. If she is in fear for her life, you can contact me (763-760-0789). … I can pick her up and make sure she’s safe … or call the police department, but she needs to be home.”
Nasir X appealed to the girl, asking her to call her mother and come home.
“It’s dangerous out here on the streets,” he said. “It’s not safe in the streets. This is not a place for you to be hanging out. This is not a place for you to be playing around, especially with the shootings taking place and how dangerous it is out here.”
On Saturday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension put out a missing-person alert saying the St. Paul Police Department was asking for help in finding the 12-year-old.
“She was last seen Oct. 4 at her residence by family on the eastside of St. Paul and reported missing to the authorities on Oct. 6. Clothing description and direction of travel are unknown,” the alert said. “Family and authorities are concerned for her wellbeing.”
Authorities ask anyone who knows where she is to call 911 or the police department at 651-291-1111.
“We are looking for any information that will help us bring (her) home to her family,” Ernster said.
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