Las Vegas Family Mourns Killing of 17-Year-Old at Party | News

LAS VEGAS -- The family of a teenager shot and killed at a house party early Sunday morning is talking. Seventeen-year-old Betty Jay Pinkney was hit by stray gunfire after a fight broke out and the shooter is still on the loose.

It's being called a homicide but police say Betty Pinkney was not an intended target. She happened to be standing inside the front door of the home when a bullet pierced the wall and took her life. The home is located near Alexander Rd. and Lamb Blvd.

"It's terrible," said Daniel Spencer who threw the party. It wasn't the outcome he was expecting when he decided to host a party Saturday night.

"I was by the DJ dancing and all I saw was two people fighting and they ran out the house and started shooting," he said.

"I heard two shots and then a few seconds later, I heard more shots," one neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told 8 News NOW that she heard at least 14 shots. "I was scared to come out of my garage and I could see children running everywhere and we just made sure the police were coming, and paramedics, because I didn't know if someone was hurt."

The woman didn't even realize a party was going on across the street until the screaming began.

"I think it was just a situation that got out of hand," she said.

Seventeen-year-old Desert Pines senior Betty Jay Pinkney went to the party with friends. No one in her family thought she was in danger.

"She was into sports, basketball, and she was on the track team, and different programs they had after school," said Chereka Franklin, victim's sister.

Pinkney's parents never anticipated getting a call from police early Sunday morning telling them Betty was dead. She leaves behind an older sister and two younger brothers who went to school with her.

"He was crying saying, 'I have to walk to school by myself everyday, by myself now.' It's hard."

"I'm sorry for their loss," Spencer said.

"She was full of life and they took her life early," Franklin said.

There was also another woman shot who happened to be sleeping in one of the home's bedrooms. That woman was hit in the chest and is listed in critical condition.