Newark, N.J. – A family is in mourning after a beloved member was killed while celebrating her birthday.
Debra Derrick, 63, was fatally shot when she was releasing ballons for her deceased twin sister on their birthdays, a family member said.
“Happy birthday to me and my sister Diane,” she wrote on Facebook last Thursday, hours before she was killed, above a photo of the two as children. “I miss you so much love.”
Authorities would later find her wounded around 8 p.m. on the 200 block of Lehigh Avenue, said the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. She died a short time later at University Hospital.
Derrick’s twin sister passed seven years ago from an asthma attack on Mother’s Day, her sister, Ramona Derrick told NJ.COM.
“We would have cake, dinner, laugh, dance, but this one was special because she turned 63 and they was going to let go some balloons for her,” said Derrick.
Her family says she wasn’t the intended target and was caught in the crossfire.
Her children and grandchildren were releasing balloons with Debra Derrick when gunfire rang out.
Debra shoved her granddaughters out of the way and into the house, putting herself in the line of fire, her family said.
“She risked her life for ours,” granddaughter Nakiyah O’Neal said. “When she took a bullet, two bullets to the head for us.”
Family members said they think the shooting stemmed from a fight between 12 year olds, one of whom had an adult settle a score.
“She didn’t even get to cut her cake,” Chevelle Derrick, Debra’s sister said.
“And now my sister’s gone,” Chevelle Derrick said. “And she ain’t coming back. She’s not coming back at all. And I miss her.”
Authorities said no one else was injured in the shooting.
Anyone with information in Debra Derrick’s killing should call investigators at 877-847-7432.
