| Updated: 3/04 12:04 pm |
Published: 3/02 1:08 pm
|
Tulsa Police are investigating the death of a Tulsa teen, the 16th homicide of 2013.
Officers were called to 1800 N. Atlanta Ave. shortly after 8:30 am on Saturday morning to investigate the stabbing death of a teen girl. A family member identified the victim as 18-year-old Gabrielle Bledsoe, also known as Gabby.
Bledsoe was a student at Will Rogers High School. Family members say she was a straight-A student, with dreams of becoming a lawyer.
"She said, 'Grandma, I'm going to be finishing school. I'm going to college. Ya'll going to be proud of me,'" said Teresa Releford, Bledsoe’s grandmother. "I said, 'Girl, you know you're smart.'"
The family says Bledsoe’s dreams were cut short because of a domestic issue.
Monte Freeman, Bledsoe's cousin, was the last person to see her alive. Freeman tells FOX23 he left her home on around 10 pm on Friday night. "Before I left," Freeman said, "I told her, 'Gabby, lock the doors.'" At 10 am on Saturday morning, he received the call about her death.
"I just broke down crying,” Freeman told FOX23. “I couldn't believe it."
Police questioned a man who lives just doors away. Bledsoe's family said he couldn't get over a breakup with Bledsoe's mom.
"He used to sit in the car for hours, just sit in the car for hours and look at my Auntie's house. I knew something was going on," said Freeman.
He says he spent a couple of nights at the house this week to keep watch for the neighbor.
"I wanted to fight him," said Bledsoe's cousin.
FOX23 reached out to the ex-boyfriend's family. They declined to comment.
"She didn't deserve this, because she was a good kid," said Bledsoe’s grandmother.
The family is now turning to their faith for support. Bledsoe never met her father. He passed away before she was born. Now, the family is taking comfort in the thought the two will finally meet.
"Now she's with him. She will finally get to meet her dad," said her grandmother.
On Bledsoe's Twitter page she described herself as "the most outgoing person you will ever meet." Students from Will Rogers High School also used Twitter to organize a plan to wear purple to school on Monday, in memory of Gabrielle Bledsoe.
Police questioned several people about Bledsoe's death. The individuals were released, pending further investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.
