Family and friends mourned the death of JaNyah Smallwood with a candlelight vigil Friday. | stock photo
Family and friends mourned the death of JaNyah Smallwood with a candlelight vigil Friday. | stock photo
A death in Charlotte has some people asking questions about the circumstances of the fatality.
JaNyah Smallwood was found dead, and unclothed, in an abandoned building on Friday.
“When we spoke to the detective, he was trying to tell us it was an open shut case, and I told him how, if you find someone with no clothes on in an abandoned building?” Robert Willis, the victim’s grandfather, said in a WCCB report.
That sounds like an oversimplification to Willis.
Smallwood’s body was found inside an apartment at Dillehay Courts. The apartments were abandoned years ago and are to be demolished. Her family now is asked why Smallwood was there and whether anybody else was with her, among other queries.
With no answers coming yet, family and friends reminisced, prayed and cried over the loss during a candlelight vigil in Gastonia on Friday night.
They all described Smallwood as a sweet young lady who was always smiling.
This case has been labeled a death investigation by Charlotte Mecklenburg Police, who are surmising that drugs may have been involved as she suffered other major injuries, according to the incident report.
Willis said that the injuries indicate she might have been assaulted.
Anyone who has any information about the case is asked to contact Charlotte Mecklenburg Police.
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