Loved ones want answers in unsolved deadly shooting of 17-year-old outside Southcenter Mall

Loved ones are still looking for answers in the deadly shooting that killed Ja’shawna Hollingsworth at Southcenter Mall the day before Thanksgiving.

The 17-year-old’s mom and boyfriend’s family are now turning to the community for any information that might help Tukwila Police detectives find the suspect behind the shooting. 

Loved ones are passing out flyers regarding the shooting that killed Ja'shawna Hollingsworth outside Southcenter Mall on November 24, 2021.

Loved ones are passing out flyers regarding the shooting that killed Ja'shawna Hollingsworth outside Southcenter Mall on November 24, 2021.

"Every day I go through life, there’s something that reminds me of her every time, like it’s so hard, but I’m trying to get through it," said Ja’ala Brown, mom of Hollingsworth.

The shooting happened on Nov. 24. Tukwila Police said multiple shots were fired in the parking lot outside JCPenney. The family said Hollingsworth was there with her boyfriend and his family, including his mom.

"They were gunned down here in the small parking lot. My son was hit several times, but God has brought him through. We want justice. The most beautiful angel, but it’s not fair and it shouldn’t have happened, and the killers are still amongst us," said the boyfriend’s mother, Jeanine Burnley. 

Burnley said they walked out of the mall and suddenly started hearing gunfire.

"We went one way, him and his girl and my two other kids went another way and then we heard gunshots. Then I came around and saw that baby face-down in her own blood. Then I looked over and there is my son in my daughter’s arms. My daughter is trying to take the clothes off to plug the holes in him and he’s saying ‘mom, I’m OK, it’s just my stomach.’ Ja’shawna, Ja’shawna. I go back over to Ja’shawna and I turn her over and I take off my coat to try to plug where I see the blood coming out and my other son started doing CPR. My daughter was taking care of Josiah [the boyfriend], and they took Josiah away, but I stayed with that baby. Her mother wasn’t there yet and we all started praying."

Hollingsworth was taken to the hospital where she later died six days after the shooting. Her mom said she was a straight-A student with aspirations of becoming a nurse. 

"She had so many things that she was talking about before Thanksgiving, you know, all these things we were talking about and it’s like I was waiting for those things and now she’s not here. I can’t even do Thanksgiving, like I don’t want to do it. I was in the hospital with my child for seven days. I never left the hospital, not one time," said Brown.

If you have any information about the shooting, get in touch with the Tukwila Police Department. You can also call Detective Akimoto at 206-492-9007.

Loved ones are passing out flyers regarding the shooting that killed Ja'shawna Hollingsworth outside Southcenter Mall on November 24, 2021.

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