TAMPA, Fla. — On Saturday afternoon, people will gather at Ballast Point Park in Tampa to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting death of Nilexia Alexander.
The 14-year-old was shot and killed on May 6, 2022. Months later, police arrested 44-year-old Ronny Walker in connection to her death.
According to her foster turned adoptive mother, Ashley Alexander, the 14-year-old struggled with childhood trauma and was a frequent runaway in the years leading up to her death.
Ashley said Ballast Point Park was a place she came to with her daughter often, where they'd sometimes talk about what she was going through and why she was running away, as well as lighter subjects.
"It was one of her favorite places to come to when we wanted to have peace, to have conversations, and just get away," the teen's mother said. "We'd cry, we laugh, we joke. Well, we found a happy place when we come here."
Now, a year later, in their "happy place," Ashley Alexander told 10 Tampa Bay her daughter's death is still painfully fresh.
"I miss her every day. Not a day I don't think about my baby. I always think about what would she be up to today," she said. "Ninth grade, you know, she could be at homecoming or working to get her permit to drive. But that was robbed from us."
Ashley Alexander was just 27 years old when she took Nelexia and her sister in as a foster parent. She didn't expect to adopt, but she fell in love.
"I wanted them to have a forever home," she said. "I never wanted them to feel like they had to go from place to place."
But in the years following the adoption, Ashley Alexander said there was turbulence, rooted in Nilexia Alexander's past. She explains her daughter fought for identity and independence.
"I did everything I was supposed to do. I got her to mental health. I sent her to two different programs to get help. I have put her in all kinds of counseling for over a year. I did my best," Ashley Alexander.
But Nilexia Alexander continued to run away.
It was during one of her stretches away from home, May 6, 2022, when Tampa Police say the 14-year-old got into a car with Walker. She was found shot dead shortly thereafter.
Ashley Alexander said she'll always wonder why.
"My biggest question is why? How? How did you come in contact with my 14-year-old? What made you pull the trigger to take her life at 14?" she asked.
Ashely Alexander hopes Walker receives the death penalty. Meanwhile, she wants other teens and parents to learn from this tragedy.
"I do want to start speaking to the young teenagers that are defiant at home who are going down the path my daughter was going down and hopefully my story will save another child, save another parent from this nightmare," Ashley Alexander said.
Her message to teens who remind her of her own will be:
"Be a child. Rules are rules. Stay home. Be a child as long as you can. Nobody is going to love you like your parents love you."
The balloon release is being held at Ballast Point Park at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. Ashley Alexander said people will release purple balloons, her daughter's favorite color.
The gathering is open to anyone who wants to pay their respects.