Angela Jones was sitting in her Meridian-Kessler neighborhood home when she heard several weapons firing simultaneously. She went outside to investigate and saw vehicles full of young people zooming past her home.
She remembered seeing kids hours earlier around the corner, taking pictures for prom. So, she started running down the street toward what police later revealed to be a short-term rental where an after-prom party was happening.
“You hear ‘da-da-da-da-da,’ then extended clips, ‘bang, bang, bang,'” Jones told IndyStar. “Then it stops and starts all over again. By the time I bent the corner, I saw a bunch of kids running out of the house screaming.”
She started recording the aftermath in the 4000 block of Park Avenue on the north side of Indianapolis. Video shared exclusively to IndyStar shows red and blue police lights flashing across a two-story yellow duplex as more than a dozen teens are seen scrambling in front of the home.
Two teens would arrive at IU Methodist Hospital injured in the 1 a.m. May 3 shooting.
Brittany Members, 38, the third person shot, would be taken to Methodist in critical condition before being pronounced dead.
The aftermath of her death was riddled with controversy, including her relation to the Grundy family — she’s the cousin of Richard Grundy III — a name that made headlines in the Indianapolis community after a wave of deadly violence. People were critical of a Facebook post shared before the party, depicting her nephew holding firearms in formal attire, and Meridian-Kessler residents are left frustrated after a community meeting with the neighborhood association and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police.
But her family says, despite it all, Members was a mother wanting to give her daughter a memorable prom when people not invited to the party showed up. After telling them they couldn’t come in, she was shot and killed.
Father remembers Brittany Members (Grundy)
Immediately after news spread of the killing, many took to social media to send their condolences to the family, sharing memories and good moments.
She was passionate and emotional, according to her father, who said she was always a generally happy person. She grew up on the east side of Indianapolis with multiple siblings, including a lot of sisters.
“They would ride their bikes together, and they used to get compliments all the time,” Hollis Members told IndyStar. “The girls had long hair, and my ex-wife used to put a lot of bows and ribbons in it. Every time they went out on their bikes, people would stop and say those kids are so beautiful.”
He said his daughter was a firecracker for what she felt strongly about. She became pregnant in 11th grade and dropped out of high school to start working. The mother would go on to have three children, two boys and a girl.
Her daughter, A’Mya, was celebrating after the Crispus Attucks High School prom with her cousins.
“When they wanted to go somewhere, I babysat,” Members said. “But when A’Mya came along, I babysat her one time and said I’d never do it again. Brittany had her so spoiled. That was her best friend, and her prom was so beautiful.”
‘They just killed my auntie…”
Brittany Members’ daughter and her sister’s children were celebrating their prom together. Following the homicide, family members said the photo of Members’ nephew holding firearms part of a theme.
“What’s the difference between my daughter posting something like that and other people posting kids with guns who don’t look like us?” Hollis Members said.
He’s saddened by the assumptions the image caused following the shooting. Since his daughter’s display name on Facebook is Grundy, he said people didn’t look at her as a victim. He had just taken over a food dish for the party before prom, and helped one of his grandsons put on his tie. After the send-off, he went home to go to sleep before he’d be woken up to the news that his daughter had been shot.
While police were just arriving at the chaotic scene, Angela Jones captured Brittany Members’ nephew, Jermaine, saying, “I’m sorry, y’all,” on video. “They just killed my auntie, ma’am,” he said, while teens are heard screaming in the background as police try to control the crowd and assess what happened.
Members’ nephew would go on to tell Jones that a group of people had come to the party whom he didn’t know. Jones hugged him as she said, “all these babies, are y’all good? What can I do to help?” She started trying to round them up to stand at the corner of the street before more police showed up.
A celebration turns into chaos
The reality hit even harder with confused and emotionally charged teens arguing with frustrated officers.
Jones is seen trying to calm down one teen who was having a panic attack. Many were crying because they couldn’t get items like their keys and phones left behind at the crime scene. One teen is heard telling Jones on video that she used Uber to get to the party, and didn’t have anyone who could pick her up.
“This is traumatizing,” one girl is heard saying on the video, followed by Jones trying to encourage her to stay in school and do something in the future to change this reality for other kids. She successfully calms down the girl who explained that she had already lost other loved ones.
This wouldn’t be a first loss for the Members’ family, either. Hollis Members lost another daughter 10 years ago to gun violence. Sheena Grundy, who was 31, was killed in a domestic-related murder-suicide in April 2016.
When he got the call about Brittany Members, it was like he was reliving a nightmare. He went to the house where his grandkids were, and then went to Methodist Hospital. He saw his daughter had been shot in the head, and a doctor explained that the only thing keeping her alive was a machine.
“I fell down crying,” Hollis Members said.
Beyond being a mother of three, who always “made it happen” for her kids, Hollis Members said his daughter was engaged, and her loss is felt city-wide and within their circle.
“Her fiancé came in the room, and he was crying,” Members said. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Especially my granddaughter seeing her mother like that.”
Jones says the shooting should be a wakeup call about the amount of gun violence the city’s youth are seeing and the ripple effects it creates.
“Her nephew was in shock,” Jones said. “He tried to run back into the house when the police pushed everybody affected back. They handcuffed him. This was his party for their prom night. All of this is trauma for everybody affected.”
Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
3:
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘They shot my auntie!’ Teens traumatized after prom party shooting
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
