Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes ofwebsite accessibility

"I just need answers:" Hamilton student dead, killer still out there


Mikina Riley's mother wants answers months after her 18-year-old daughter was gunned down (Barbara Riley)
Mikina Riley's mother wants answers months after her 18-year-old daughter was gunned down (Barbara Riley)
Facebook Share IconTwitter Share IconEmail Share Icon

HAMILTON, Ohio (WKRC) - The holidays can be tough when someone you love is no longer with you.

A Hamilton mother is speaking out after losing her daughter to gun violence in late August.

Her daughter's killer is still out there. Barbara Riley’s heart is broken.

“There's no words. I just wish this was all a dream and I could just wake up,” Riley said.

Her daughter, Mikina Riley, a 18-year-old student at Miami High School, was shot and killed on August 27th.

It’s the first Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now New Year's without her.

“Eighteen years that I raised her and they took her in no time. It's not fair,” Riley said. “She had her own little eyelash business going, she had her own car, she had her own job, she was really getting prepared for the future.”

Police say Mikina was standing with two others outside a home attached to the Second Baptist Church on S. Second Street in Hamilton when she was killed.

“The police told me she was sitting with, I guess, her back against the little ledge right there on the porch,” Riley said.

Riley says Mikina’s boyfriend lived in the house.

“That’s where they were staying, she was staying with him, and I guess they shot from the field and so it was dark, so they didn't see it coming, or they didn't hear it or anything,” Riley said. “They called me at 12 o'clock and told me I needed to get over here and that Mikina had been shot and she wasn't moving.”

Mikina died, and the other two people shot are still alive.

"[Police] say they have leads, they have suspects but they need more people to come forward, you know that knows about it.”

Now, Riley is left picking up the pieces. She wants closure and justice for her daughter’s death.

“I just need answers,” Riley said. “I will not stop if it's the last breath I take.”

Investigators say this was a targeted shooting, not a random act of violence.

If you have any information to help police make an arrest, call CrimeStoppers.

Loading ...