LAKELAND, Fla. — Karen Ramsey had been hoping it was a nightmare from which she’d soon wake up.
Monday night, as hundreds of mourners looked on while holding candles, the grieving mother slowly walked up to a framed portrait of her daughter and laid a white carnation on the ground beneath.
“To know there’s so many people supporting us, it’s just very heartwarming,” she said.
Karen’s daughter, Racheal Ramsey, was shot and killed Christmas Eve alongside her friend, Chris Pine. The two, along with each of their two young children, were preparing to head to church services when Lakeland police say Ramsey’s ex, Leighton Josephs, shot them inside Ramsey’s home. Josephs was the father of Ramsey’s children.
The four children were not hurt.
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“She loved her daughters—they were her world,” Karen Ramsey said of her daughter.
The family attended a vigil Monday night organized by Ramsey’s church friends at the Frances Langford Promenade on Lake Mirror in downtown Lakeland. Ramsey’s two young daughters, who are now in the care of relatives, were in attendance.
“I think this was good for the girls,” Karen Ramsey said. “They cried and that’s been something they haven’t done a lot of.”
She said the whole family will be getting grief counseling.
Those who knew Racheal best say she will be remembered as a kind woman and loving mother who was devoted to her family and her faith.
“She was just the most beautiful soul you could hope to meet,” said Jessica Criss, a friend of Racheal’s for more than a decade.
“We’re still just in shock and it’s devastating and she was the last person you could ever imagine would experience this.”
Police have yet to officially detail a motive for the murders. Family and friends have declined to speculate.
They say their focus is on making sure Racheal's two young daughters have all the support they need.
Karen Ramsey says the family is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the community.
“It’s kind of an indescribable feeling to know that everybody was here and I know there were a lot of people here who may not have even known her,” she said. “Knowing the support is out there and we’re not in this alone… it means a lot.”
Friends set up an online fundraiser for Ramsey to help cover funeral costs and offer some financial assistance for her daughters.
Krystal Jones, a close friend of Pine, said he will not only be missed by his children and family, but his friends who considered him family.
"His kids adored him. Many people loved him. He had a way of making you laugh and feel comfortable around him," Jones said in an email to 10News.
"He was a single father. He had custody of his children and took pride in caring for his children and making sure that their well-being was met. His children were his first priority."
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