Shooting victim’s friend speaks out

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Police are still investigating an early Saturday morning shooting in Evansville that killed Mariah Strother and Keijuan Baker.

It happened just after 4 a.m. at a gas station on Kentucky Avenue.

[EPD still searching for suspect responsible for Saturday’s deadly shooting]

Mariah Strother and her friend Takeia Baker had just walked out of a gas station on Kentucky Ave early Saturday morning.

“Before I could even look back, I heard shots ring out,” said Baker.

Baker says she immediately ran for cover behind a nearby trash can.

“There was a bullet hole right there and I got scared, but I looked up and I seen her and I seen Keijuan,” said Baker.

20-year-old Keijuan Baker would later die at a local hospital, but Strother passed away right there in the parking lot.

“I went and I held her. I held her and I felt it," said Baker. “I tried to stop it but it was like; When I walked up to her she was gone.”

Now a memorial of candles and balloons helps to keep Mariah’s memory alive. Her loved ones are left asking why it had to happen.

“It’s like somebody just took it," said Baker "Took everything from her. She didn’t see it coming.”

Takeia says the last few days have been hard since Mariah’s death. She hopes it will get a little easier with time.

“It’s something that you carry on your heart and you’re going to carry it on your heart forever. It’s something you can’t forget, you know what I mean? When you lose somebody that doesn’t do anything to nobody, for real, like something really serious, it really messes with you," said Baker.

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