'I know she's good': A godmother's heartbreaking loss amid rising gun violence

Britney Chavers has found roaming her home difficult, knowing that her 18-year-old goddaughter will never fill the house with laughter again.

"It's hard because once I wake up, and I look to my left Trenity was always right there, so it's real hard now because when I wake up, I don't want to get up," Chavers said.

Trenity Hardy, Chavers' goddaughter, whom she had legal custody of, was shot and killed on Sept. 11 while sitting in a car with friends in a parking lot in Springfield Apartments on Joe Louis Street. Police say the fatal shooting happened "inadvertently" as the group of friends were smoking marijuana in a parked car.

Ja'Darius Brown, 17, was arrested Sept. 12 on a charge of manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence after he allegedly drove to a separate location to dispose of the firearm before taking her to the hospital.

The shooting marks the fifth since the start of September in which someone was accidently shot.

Chavers says despite the details of the tragedy, she wants people to know about Trenity's steadfast spirit.

She said Trenity had a generous heart, and shared all that she had with those in the house.

"She was very determined and one thing I can say is, if she got it, then we're all going to be straight," Chavers said, calling Trenity her "little finesser" when it came to getting things done for herself and her family.

"She reminds me so much of me when I was a little girl," Chavers said. "And she was very family oriented, like at Christmas she went all out, she went harder than me."

Trenity turned 18-years-old on July 6, and she was a senior at Godby High School who loved to dance, watch scary movies and make TikTok videos with her friends and family.

Godby Principal Desmond Cole said in a Facebook post on Sept. 12, she had "an extremely bright future," while informing the Godby community that school counselors would have an open door to any students who needed help coping with the tragic and sudden loss.

Chavers took in Trenity when she was 15 years old. Chavers, cares for her own biological son, but she says she is a second mother to others including Trenity.

Born and raised in Tallahassee, Chavers, 34, shares a Springfield Apartments home with her son, her grandfather, her 1-year-old niece and her other goddaughter.

Chavers, who has been out of work for the last three months, says she is still addressing funeral arrangements as she looks for affordable options.

"I help a lot of people out, and now I'm the one that needs help," Chavers said.

Chavers is currently looking for a church or funeral home to hold the service at an affordable rate. She has opened a GoFundMe account at gofund.me/33abdac6 to raise money for the costs of the homegoing service.

With her loss, Chavers says there is now an eerie silence in her home.

"Nighttime is really the hardest time because that's when Trenity would come home and turn everybody up, and pretty much, ever since Trenity died, we stay in our lane. We communicate, but it's not the same," Chavers said in the living room of her apartment.

Nyirah Sloan, another goddaughter Chavers brought into her home, said the only word she could use to describe Trenity, was sister.

"We had each other's backs, and we were really all we had," Sloan said.

Sloan is 18 years old, only about a month younger than Trenity.

The girls shared the same room, and Sloan says the hardest part of her day is laying down at night knowing her "sister" is gone, while surrounded by her belongings.

Finding hope after a tragedy

It's been a violent summer in Tallahassee with too many tragedies, but Chavers never expected the gun violence epidemic to touch her household.

So far in 2023, there have been 70 shootings in Tallahassee resulting in at least 56 injuries and 19 deaths.

"I finally got that knock on my door and now it's me, and I don't wish this on anyone," Chavers said. "It's time to start going back to the old ways, and start being strict with our kids again."

Chavers' mother, Dorothy Richardson, said Trenity was like a granddaughter to her.

"She was my girl and I fussed at her a lot, but she was sweet, and a good and aggravating person," Richardson said, laughing at memories with Chavers and Sloan in the living room of the apartment. "But if it wasn't her time, God wouldn't have taken her."

Though the family has had trouble coping with the tragic loss, Chavers says she encourages herself and others, to trust and know that Trenity is in a better place.

"I wish there was something I could do to take their pain away but there's not and I have always told them to build their relationship with God, and I said the same thing to Trenity," Chavers said of the other children she cares for. "About two weeks ago she started going to church and offering to help out financially around the house."

Chavers said she took it as a sign that Trenity was alright when it began to rain on Sept. 12, the day after she passed.

"It just started raining really hard, and you know the old folks say, 'if it starts raining after someone dies, that's just God opening the floodgates of heaven to let them in,' " Chavers said. "So, I know she's good."

More: Amid rash of accidental shootings, LCSO talks gun safety in Tallahassee

More: TPD makes arrest after woman 'inadvertently' shot and killed at Springfield Apartments

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Alaijah Brown is with the Tallahassee Democrat and can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee teen killed in accidental shooting had 'bright future'