As 2 girls killed in July 4 shooting are laid to rest, family demands end to gun violence

Sharde Mills called her youngest two daughters her “Wynter Girl” and her “Ivy Joy.”

Ivy Joy Pierce, 4, was full of happiness and was always hugging and laughing with her loved ones. A family friend described her as a breath of fresh air.

Mills was left speechless when trying to describe her 15-month-old, Wynter Harlem Thouston.

“Harlem [Wynter] was just... Harlem,” Mills said. The mother, who has five daughters, was joined by several of her loved ones Friday night at a balloon release for Ivy and Wynter outside of the Tree of Life Funeral Home in Fort Worth, where visitation for the sisters was held.

The owners of the funeral home say events like these are not how they want to bury people. Co-owner of the funeral home Parish Lowery was hurt to hear of the passing of Ivy and Wynter.

“I was devastated. Not because I’m a pastor, not because I’m a funeral director. I was devastated because I am a father of three girls, so I cannot imagine what this family is having to endure,” Lowery said.

The young sisters were among five people who were killed on the Fourth of July in two separate shootings during holiday celebrations in Fort Worth.

Mills was left in tears as she was trying to speak about her children at the balloon release.

“Can we please just down these guns?” said Rodney McIntosh, bishop at Christ the Risen King Church, on Mills’ behalf. “We have other ways of resolving conflict when it happens. That does not have to be the answer every time somebody has a dispute.”

The two girls died early on the morning of July 5 at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth. They were shot when a fight broke out outside of the Crystal Clean Car Wash on West Cleburne Road between the suspect, 26-year-old Kanard Murphy, and a man who was also injured in the shooting, according to police. Murphy pulled a rifle out of his vehicle and began shooting at the man and others who were outside the car wash, police wrote in his arrest warrant.

Ivy and Wynter were inside a car when they were struck by gunfire. They each died due to a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner. Their older sister was wounded in the hand, and a man who was a bystander was also killed, police said.

“They were my noise,” Mills said about her late daughters. “My house is so quiet now.”

The mother was outside of the car wash on the Fourth of July with her daughters to watch a fireworks show. Several children were there, in addition to hers, according to Mills.

McIntosh says the loss of the two girls is a loss experienced by the entire community. In his career with the church, he has had to conduct funerals, but the image of the girls’ caskets will forever stay with him, the bishop said.

“We have to understand that these moments are not normal. This mother should not be living through this, this father should not be living through this,” McIntosh said. “Parents are not supposed to bury their children, but we have to get back to a place to where this cannot continue to happen in our communities”

Fort Worth police say they are working to determine how they can prevent shootings and gun violence during holiday celebrations.

“What I’m asking is that our community leaders, our community members, and our police departments, we try to work together in a cohesive unit to see what else we can do to stop this,” said Tracy Carter, a public information officer for Fort Worth police.

The officer said Ivy and Wynter were just young kids looking forward to life.

“This is something no one should witness, and then celebration time? It shouldn’t end up in violence.”

Carter urges the community to let the Police Department know when and where they are having gatherings, referencing police collaboration with this year’s Comofest as an example, to encourage involvement.

“If you have an association, reach out to us,” Carter said. “Let us help you with the planning of the events, so we can make them safe for all comers, for all ages, that tend to come out and want to enjoy themselves for the holiday.”