45 Responses to “Sister Murder: Community Paints A Picture Of A Troubled Shooter, Sweet And Shy Victim”

1. Just Saying on March 28th, 2021 5:02 pm

   I just watched “My Evil Sister” nearly 10 years later. Sisters argue and fight often. My sisters and I fought too but we had each other’s back in the play ground and school. That last fight over the phone was not really over the phone i feel it was about Nellies indifference to her sister being taunted and bullied at school and Nellies harassment at home. Sweet Nellie would still be alive if Stheir parents BR door was locked being there is a “LOCKED AND LOADED” gun with the SAFTY OFF inside a SHOEBOX for heavens sake parents smarten up! Everybody saying they knew Elena was more than troubled and some did try to help but if not for the gun…Sweet Nellie

2. 429SCJ on August 9th, 2011 9:43 pm

   Anger and rage are not as effective as cool calculating purpose in dealing with bullies. The bullies allways feel like what did I do to deserve this, when they get that old dose of karma. I try to avoid bullies these days, my heart rate goes too high as I repair them.

3. p-cola native on August 9th, 2011 12:51 pm

   Tormented or not she has no right taking anyones life.

4. Jessica on August 6th, 2011 10:42 pm

   Look I have known Christina “Nelly” and Elena for a very long time my aunt is troyce’s bestfriend and Nelly was an amazing girl so sweet and so fun and she was so BEAUTIFUL I love you NELLY… and Elena she was always hurt and made fun of and she was really a nice girl . she is just very misunderstood .. I love you ELena
   and i love you Troyce
   my prayers are forever with you…
   RIP Nelly

5. Addie on August 6th, 2011 1:48 pm

   Me and Christina was like sisters since the first day of sixth grade we know every thing about each other ,, We use laugh at every thing . I’ll never for get the day I first started calling her Cherry ,, it was a joke at first but the stuck with her . We had all our classes together and we shared every thing . She was my best friend, we stuck together no matter what . Words don’t describe how close we were , but it hurts me to my heart that my only best friend is gone ………

6. billw on August 5th, 2011 11:40 pm

   I’m not really sure there is all that much help out there for young people with problems. If you have money it would be relatively easy to get counseling or whatever is needed and probably if you had no money there would be government programs that will help. If you fall somewhere in the middle it can be pretty hard to find.
   A recent situation in my immediate family and the problems I had leads me to this conclusion.
   If there is a list of places where help is free, moderately priced or otherwise would someone please be kind enough to to publish it . It could be a big help to everyone and may be a preventive of some future problem.

7. Mother on August 5th, 2011 9:54 pm

   My comment is my prayers are with the family. My personal opinion is that it is true Elena had a problem there is help out there for children like her. She was only looking for someone to show her a little attention and love. My heart goes out to her and what she is going through, she needs someone to help her and be there for her. I don’t know what i would do if it was me if it was my child.
   I think that people need to look at as she is just a child that was wanting to be love and cared for. Not saying that her parents didn’t love her and care for her, but she needed some one like a friend at school to help her. Her heart is crying out but no one would listen.

8. Concerned Parent on August 5th, 2011 9:14 pm

   @Bogian,

   I’m not saying there’s no blame. I’m saying that if people hadn’t tormented her, she never would have been so messed up. I’m also saying that if people hadn’t treated the boys at Columbine badly, maybe they wouldn’t have done what they did either. It was a horrible tragedy for all involved, just as this is. Yes, they have some blame but so does every single person who ever tormented them.

9. BOGIAN on August 5th, 2011 7:50 pm

   @Concerned Parent

   I think you are going down a slippery slope here. The Columbine shooters were taunted. That is a well documented fact. Do you think that relieves them of responsibility to any degree? If you fairly apply your reasoning, you would have to say that they really weren’t bad guys at all, they just got bullied to the point that they couldn’t take any more. Don’t try to say that they killed more people so they were worse, because by doing that you would be lessening the seriousness of this crime and damaging your own argument. I mean, what would the magic number of killings be? Two? Five? Ten?

   So, permit me to politely disagree with your assertion that victims of bullying that happen to kill people should have a get out of jail free card.

   It is pretty clear that this whole thing was an accident that went down after a heated argument. If she wanted to murder this girl, and according to your “the bullies made me do it” defense she must have wanted to murder her, she probably wouldn’t have run out her door shouting for help. If you really look at it and stop trying to assign blame to society as a whole, you will see that this accident wasn’t related to bullies or harassment.

   Anyone else that thinks that bullying excuses this kind of behavior should hold a vigil to see that those bullies that brought about the tragedy at Columbine are brought to justice. Would anyone else love to see that? Probably not.

10. krystal ernest ward student on August 5th, 2011 7:27 pm

    i cant belive i knew these two people people untill someone told me they was from ernest ward then i looked them up and saw the pic of them and i knew them i feel bad 4 both

11. Just A Girl on August 5th, 2011 7:18 pm

    It really bothers me how most of yall on here dont even know the family and your saying all this! If you truly knew you would understand!

    @ BOGIAN:
    She wasn’t just tormented by her peers at school! She was tormented by Nelly(Christina). I have nothing againist Nelly because she was nice, when she wanted to be! I don’t feel the need to write on here to prove that, but I know what I know you can believe me or not. I honestly feel sorry for Elena.

12. Concerned Parent on August 5th, 2011 6:17 pm

    Bogian said:

    “Perhaps those of you that would like to blame bullying for this tragedy will sit on this jury and let her off because she was driven crazy by bullying in school… In the middle of the summer… Because that is pretty much what you are saying caused this.
    Can you really do that? I doubt it.”

    Actually everybody can. We’re not saying she’s being picked on today. We’re saying that YEARS of this abuse accumulated to cause her state of mind. It’s a very simple concept.

13. BOGIAN on August 5th, 2011 5:57 pm

    Perhaps those of you that would like to blame bullying for this tragedy will sit on this jury and let her off because she was driven crazy by bullying in school… In the middle of the summer… Because that is pretty much what you are saying caused this.

    Can you really do that? I doubt it.

    Her best hope is that someone in the system recognizes that she has an underlying condition and she’ll be declared unfit to stand trial. If that is the case, then someone in the home should have taken more care
    in storing their guns.

    A more likely scenario is that this gets viewed as a silly argument that ended in the worst way and she goes to trial.

    If you care to actually refute any of my points, please do so. I love to learn, so teach me something.

14. Concerned Parent on August 5th, 2011 4:42 pm

    @mother,

    There is no law about the age at which a child can be left alone. It is left to the discretion of the parent. If the child is old enough to understand not to open the door and how to call 911 and the parent thinks it’s ok, the law agrees.

15. person on August 5th, 2011 4:31 pm

    This crime was not caused because of bullying ! I mean i took up for the elena girl when people made fun of her, later to know why they made fun of her. It wasnt because she was special needs. She had anger issues and noone would help the girl. She talked about killing people almost everyday. And i truely felt bad.. Maybe this is a wake up call for everyone who wouldnt help her. After students told teachers about her and after her mother tried to get help… R.I.P CHRISTINA YOU WILL BE MISSED

16. So Sad on August 5th, 2011 3:42 pm

    @ just sayin;

    Well then your kids are blessed and you done an excellent job in raising them. Thats not always the case. I have numerous friends who are adopted. Whether at birth or in later years, they all experienced some sort of abandonment issues at some point in their lives, namely teenage years when life seems to be the toughest on kids.
    My exact words in my previous post was “They both were adopted, therefore probably feeling abandoned from the start, from the biological mother & father”. Nowhere in that statement did I say being adopted was an excuse for shooting someone or even a bad thing for that matter. I just know from friends experiences that being adopted CAN cause some kids (not all) to question why? If you think this question has not ever, or will never, cross their minds at some point in life, well thats where we differ on opinions. Adoption is really not the point here at all and I never claimed it to be. Both of these girls had issues beginning early in life going by the statements posted here.

17. whitepunknotondope on August 5th, 2011 2:57 pm

    “You can’t blame the bullies.”

    The hell I can’t!

18. whitepunknotondope on August 5th, 2011 2:54 pm

    Ok I take back what I said on the other post.

    Are all you parents reading this? These are YOUR CHILDREN they are talking about verbally abusing and ridiculing this poor child. As a parent of a teenage girl, I can testify that there are a lot of teen girls who I pray to God that karma slaps them hard for their merciless bullying behavior. TALK TO YOUR KIDS!!! Teach them how to have compassion!

19. shianne on August 5th, 2011 1:24 pm

    i went to ernest ward with her.she always used my eye shadow at the lunch table.an we always called her cherry.we all loved cherry.she was quiet but she was always nice and smart.ive hungout with her sister once when me an cherry were hanging an her sister would always tell cherry to shutup an alll which wasnt ok with me.r.i.p cherry.wee luv u

20. Mrs. Harris on August 5th, 2011 1:11 pm

    I was a teacher to both girls. In time a good relationship was established between myself and Eleana. She even called my house atleast once a week just to say “hi” or that she missed me. Christina was also one of my students. I agree with most comments that she was very sweet and quiet. Christina would often tell me last year that she and Eleana would fight over getting to talk or text on the phone. I just figured that this would just “normal” sibling rivalry. I can’t imagine what Eleana must be going through right now. I can’t imagine what Christina had gone through up until her death. My heart is broken. This incident will change the way I react to statements by students and my own children. Eleana was put through plenty of teasing at school. I don’t believe that she meant for this to happen. I just pray that God will have mercy on this family and the entire community as we all come to grips with this horrific situation.

21. Step on August 5th, 2011 12:20 pm

    You can’t blame the school. You can’t blame the bullies. You can only blame the shooter.
    Bogian…I’m not sure I agree with you. While the bullies did not make her kill this girl, I think that the child’s history definitely contributed to the decision that she made. The child’s history obviously includes bullying which is made evident by every statement in this article pertaining to this girl. So the people that bullied this girl relentlessly for her appearance, disabilities, and the other names that I’ve heard definitely contributed to this. Regardless of disability, anyone that endures this type of treatment continuously will not be 100% stable. I understand a lot of people go through periods of bullying without resorting to this type of violence….but could you imagine enduring this everyday for years? On a side note I really impressed by the majority of the posters who empathize with this girl. It’s usually so discouraging to comments on here. Sometimes it seems people are disagreeable/negative just for the sake of being disagreeable/negative.

22. Student on August 5th, 2011 11:46 am

    my assigned seat in Ernest ward was beside Christina

23. BOGIAN on August 5th, 2011 11:26 am

    This is sad all around, but turning this into a discussion about bullying is taking the whole thing off track. I doesn’t seem like she planned this as some sort of act of revenge. She didn’t take that gun and go chasing after these people that gave her a hard time. It looks like it was a fight between siblings that was taken too far.

    You can’t blame the school. You can’t blame the bullies. You can only blame the shooter. If she really is as troubled as everyone seems to think, she wouldn’t be mentally fit to be tried for this shooting anyway.

    This is a really sad ending to a pair of what seem to have been difficult lives, and it should serve as a motivator for us all to reconsider our roles in the community. If you want to make some changes, adopt a child like this yourself or join an organization that will allow you to mentor at risk children like this. Don’t just cry out for teachers and faculty in our schools to be reprimanded for a lack of clairvoyance. Teachers may be good at a lot of things, but they aren’t Mom and Dad and they aren’t Madame Cleo.

    Here is your take home lesson: If you have people that you know aren’t mentally capable of exercising good judgement in your home, you should take great care in securely storing your firearms. There are a wide variety of home gun safes that allow both fast access and secure storage.

24. ANOTHER NEIGHBOR on August 5th, 2011 11:13 am

    I’ve read all the comments that has been published. I’d like to make one of my own.
    I knew Elena, she was always polite to me, very sweet girl. I knew she had problems, but she would never voice those problems. Bother her adopted parents have health issues too. Her mother told me she wasn’t able to get the help she needed with Elena, but got it with Nellie. Why one and not the other. I was also told that Elena was much younger mentally than her years. I do know that once you told her something she didn’t forget it. She was in my home many times, she’d make small talk, eat with us sometimes, watch TV with me, acted like she needed to have some attention. I’d take her to church sometimes, as did another neighbor. She always acted like she enjoyed going. I wish her parents had been involved in church, it could have made a wonderful difference with Elena. There she felf like the other young people, and as far as I know no one was ugly to her. When they were younger, both of the girls would come over, but as they grew older, only Elena would come. I ALWAYS did my best to make both girls feel welcomed. My prayers are with Elena, I know when she realizes the deed she did she’ll not know what to do with herself. I know she loved her sister. She’d always make excuses for Nellie not coming over. As they grew up they did not seem close as I felt sisters should be. My prayers are for you Troyce & Mike and Jason. I know you were a good brother Jason, and I know Elena loved you so very much. Both girls did. They use to talk about their big brother all the time and were so proud of you being in the Army. They missed you when you went away, and always looked forward to seeing you on your return. I know there wil be a void in your lives with both girls gone. I know you all loved them so very much. GOD BE WITH YOU THREE!

25. Bama Boy on August 5th, 2011 11:12 am

    Hmmmm Just Sayin……Neighbor from Sunset never said she was referring to Pastor Brian from Highland….More than likely she was keeping that confidental but it could be any pastor from the area.

26. hurt on August 5th, 2011 10:59 am

    I too was made fun of during school and even now as an adult. But, I never harmed anyone, not that it didn’t cross my mind a few hundred times a day. People need to teach their children repeat for others but some of the parents are worse than their children. If you think it is funny to talk about people who are different, put yourself in their place or your loved ones in their place and see if it is funny then. It is no excuse for killing but I understand. It gets to the point you just want the pain to stop. Sometimes you hurt them sometimes you hurt yourself. I turned to God finally after years of hating myself and wanting to kill myself for being different. You see we think its us but now I know I am still made in God’s image, so think next time how would I feel if I had to endure that or if it was my child, parent, grandparent, because we all have someone we love and don’t wont to be hurt.

27. supporter of neighbor on August 5th, 2011 10:53 am

    Dear Neighbor,

    If anyone should have something negative to say about your comment, then they need to look in the mirror first. We are always harder on ourselves than anyone else is. I am also a mother and a christian. There are many different families that I feel a stong burden for. A lot of times we get caught up in the day to day nececities of life and caring for our family, that its hard to reach to others. Its especially hard when you feel those people are a threat or negative influence. We are only human.

    Remember that satan plays mind games on us and he will try to taunt you into thinking this was your fault . Its not.

    Without knowing who you are, I will pray for you to have peace..

    Love,
    your sister in Christ

28. just sayin on August 5th, 2011 10:48 am

    @ so sad, feeling abandoned from biological parent because they are adopted, are you KIDDING me? My kids are adopted and they have never felt abandoned because of it. Millions of kids are adopted, it’s not the adopted part causing the issues.

29. Just Sayin on August 5th, 2011 10:30 am

    To: neighbor from Sunsetview

    I applaud you for speaking the truth and sharing your miscomings with us. That took alot of guts! If nothing else good comes from this tragic event, your comments and change in life will be one rainbow at the end of this tragedy. I didn’t know these girls, so I cannot speak of their type of disability, but maybe, I too would have advised my child to “not associate” with these girls. But on the same note, I think we all try to protect our children as best we can. And depending, again, on the daily behavior and acts of these girls-maybe you made the best decision by not allowing your child to associate with them. Who knows, if your child would have been good buddies with them-your child may have been the one shot and killed. We just don’t know.
    I know, and GREATLY respect Pastor Brian. He has really changed Highland Baptist into one of the greatest churches I have ever attended. The entire congregation loves and respects him AND his lovely wife. The young people that he has brought to Christ is just unbelievable to me. I applaud him!
    Back to the issue; we all need to teach respect to our children, but lets face it, we live in a very evil and cruel world. So, we need to also protect them as best we can and hope that God watches over them when they are not in our care.
    I do not look down on you at all. I feel as though you were just trying to protect your child. We can just teach our children to not be cruel to others and tell an adult if you feel someone is being picked on to the extent you think they may harm themself or others. Bullying is such a awful evil act! Kids please think about this before you say something mean and nasty to someone about their clothes, shoes, hair, speech, walk, etc God makes us all different for a reason.

30. Mrs.JD on August 5th, 2011 10:08 am

    People observed this child being pushed to her limit and no one did anything. How SICK is our society that this situation only makes the news when someone is dead? The situation would have had a different outcome if people had been talking about it when Elena was being bullied and ridiculed to the point that she was alienated from her peers. Obviously, Elena needs to be held accountable for her actions but anyone who observed the behaviors leading up to this senseless act should take a good long look at the results of complacency.

    The message MUST go out, LOUD AND CLEAR to bullies, their parents and the school system that THE COMMUNITY WILL NOT TOLERATE children INTENTIONALLY inflicting this kind of pain/isolation on ANY CHILD. Every member of the community should be talking about what can be done from this point forward to protect ALL children because it is obviously too late for this family.

    My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of these girls. I cannot fathom the suffering you have already and will continue to endure.

31. So Sad on August 5th, 2011 10:08 am

    Are you kidding me…some of you are trying to perseute the mother for having guns in the house (which she stated were put away)? Have you read a news paper lately or watched the news? In my opinion, any sane person in this world should own at least one gun. I will do what it takes to protect my family as well as my possessions that I worked so hard to have. The “gun” did not cause this shooting, the environment did. She was a troubled child who was taunted daily, and obviously lacked help that she so desperately needed. It is God’s place to pass judgement, not ours. Had both of these girls been dealt a different hand in life-this would have never happened. They both were adopted, therefore probably feeling abandoned from the start, from the biological mother & father. Seems neither had a good start and to top it off they both were special needs children who were made fun of and picked on by the “cool kids”. So “cool kids” do you feel so cool now ? Maybe this will make you think about what your actions sometimes bring. School starts in a couple of weeks and there will now be 2 empty chairs where these 2 young girls should have been sitting. Kids please think about this the next time you want to make fun of or taunt other kids. This is a horrible thing to do to another human being. How would you feel to be in their shoes? Not very much fun, is it? I have a 15 yr old son who attends Northview and he has always been taught to NEVER make fun of someone who has any kind of disabilty. And I am proud of the young man he is becoming. It DOES have alot to do with how children are raised, but thats not all that counts in life. You make your own decisions as you get older. I am going to assume this fight over a “cell phone” was a very heated one that just led to unnecessary , unthought out actions by the 17 yr old. Its just so sad all the way around. I pray for all involved! Everyone, please teach your children to treat others as they would want to be treated. We need to teach love and respect, not hate and spitefulness. In most cases (not all) kids are a product of their parents and environment. They need to be taught to work hard for things you want in life. Its so much more rewarding in the end.

32. Bama Boy on August 5th, 2011 10:06 am

    Ok I understand all the guilt. However, nobody can be accountable for the decisions someone else chooses to make. And we do have to guard who our children interact with our they will be the next one dead

33. neighbor from Sunsetview on August 5th, 2011 9:00 am

    I was a neighbor of this family when they lived in Molino. I am sad to say that I was one of those people that knew of the sad home life that both of these girls were submitted to daily and I did NOTHING about it. I have thought about this and thought about this since hearing of what happened and I am disappointed in MYSELF! I could have taken her (Elena) to church more often, let her into my house more often and talked with her more often. I consider myself a Christian, but this is certainly not the way a Christian should act. I spoke to our Pastor yesterday when he called to ask how my daughter was doing after she heard of this tragic event and she is doing fine…just shocked. But I made a comment to him that I would not allow my daughter to interact with Elena because of her “disability”. I’m ashamed of myself for making those comments to him. I’m ashamed of myself for thinking that I was “better” than her and her family. I’m not saying that if I would have done things differently, this would not have happened, but I too feel like a “bully” and unsupportive of her and her sister.

    I know that I will probably be scurtinized in the comments now, but that’s okay….no one can be harder on me than I am myself at this point. The Youth Paster asked of our Youth what could we have done differently, how will we treat people in the future, do people see Christ in you….What a WAKE UP call to me! Thank you Paster Brad for your letter to the youth…it definitly struck a cord with me. As I said, I’m ashamed of myself for not doing things differently, but I will from now on.

    I pray that God opened his arms to welcome Christina and she was able to feel the love that she has lost out on for so many years. I pray that Elena will get the help that she has needed and I pray for Troyce, Mike and Jason at this sad time for the lost of both of their daughters and sisters. In Jesus name I pray….Amen.

    Neighbor

34. Step on August 5th, 2011 8:56 am

    “If so many people SAW this, WHY didn’t anybody speak up and try to stop it? ”

    It’s sad, but I think that we have all witnessed similar incidents but realized when it was too late that we should have spoken up or become more actively involved. I think that is what happened here as well. Hopefully people will remember this and not become a by-stander to another similar incident. We cannot tolerate bullying whether the victim is an adult or child. Many people feel this way but when they encounter a situation where they cannot relate to the victim they tend to back away. This is especially true if the victim is being persecuted for holding different religious/political views or if they are gay/lesbian.

35. just sayin on August 5th, 2011 8:35 am

    Everybody noticed this girl being picked on but nobody stood up for her. what does that say about society? I believe the mother in the fact that it was hard to get help. Not everybody can afford doctors etc. As for the school, they should have stepped in as well. Im sure they knew of the bullying but like most people it’s better to not get involved. This is where not getting involved gets people, an innocent 14 yr old dead and a 17 year old is going to spend time in prison. Wake up people. sometimes we have to read between the lines and step out of our comfort zone to stop things like this from happening. Bless this family.

36. meemee on August 5th, 2011 8:02 am

    please please if kids tell you that they are being picked on listen i thank ms.perry if you call her and let her know there is a problem even if it starts within the community and ends up at school she gets to the bottom of it thank you ms.perry my heart goes out to this family she has lost so much………

37. 429SCJ on August 5th, 2011 7:54 am

    I have heard no responses from the baby daddys of these girls. What is their status?

38. Mrs.Goodie on August 5th, 2011 7:35 am

    First off my thoughts and prayers are with the Mother.I can not even imagine how she feels.But i also have to agree with some of the other posters,if this was seen by so many,WHY did no one step up and tried to help.It is so easy to tell how sweet or troubled a child was or is after something like this happens,but why did no one do anything?
    In no does it excuse what happend,but maybe we would not have a mother who now has to deal with the loss of 2 of her children,because one will go to prison and one is gone forever.Sad sad situation.

39. Another child gone on August 5th, 2011 7:33 am

    for what ever reason is the saddest thing I have ever heard. I don’t understand\
    why the mother could not find help if her 17 year old was troubled. there
    are therapist’s all over this nation. This mother will have plenty of time to think
    about what should have been now that her two girls will be gone.

    God Bless all concerned

40. mother on August 5th, 2011 7:05 am

    The teachers had to notice that she was being picked on. I have been out of school for 35 years and still remember being picked on for a weight problem. I have taught my children and grandchildren never to pick on another child. I wonder how these girls that picked on her feel now.Tthis should have been resolved at school before it got out of control. Could you tell me the law in the state of Flordia about leaving children under the age of 12 unattended? Is it a Flordia law that no child under the age of 12 can not be along without a adult. I know the bus drives wll not let a young child off the bus unless a adult is at home.

41. tallyho on August 5th, 2011 6:26 am

    It is a shame that someone that sees the abuse adults and kids and do nothing because some one is a little different. If the school employees seen this then they should have be held accountable.

42. Stacey on August 5th, 2011 5:01 am

    This is just sad…heartbreaking, prayers for all involved!

43. KINTEIZHA FRANKLIN on August 5th, 2011 3:59 am

    OMG IWAS SO SHOCKED WHEN I SAW THIS I MEAN I AM JUST SITTING HERE CRYING “CHERRY” WAS A VERY NICE GIRL SHE WENT TO SCHOOL WID ME AT ERNEST WARD IT JUST SEEMS SO IMPOSSIBLE. BUT MY PRAYERS GOT OUT TO HER AND HER FAMILY SINCERLY KINTEIZHA

44. Concerned Parent on August 5th, 2011 12:50 am

    If so many people SAW this, WHY didn’t anybody speak up and try to stop it? I’ve always taught my kids that even if they don’t like the person being picked on, they have no excuse for not stopping whoever is doing it! Why did so many just stand by and let it continue? Especially when it was happening at school? What the hell, people?

45. EMD on August 5th, 2011 12:36 am

    So sorry. Some of my friends know your family. They are very saddened by this. I do not know you, but I have felt a simiar pain, when my adopted cousin killed himself with a shotgun. I just wanted to say that I am so very sorry and am praying for you and your family,