Family remembers innocent woman killed

PHOENIX - A woman shot to death at a Valley apartment complex was remembered Saturday night by her outraged friends and family.

Linda Whiting was allegedly gunned down by a friend of the family.

"She was more than any of these people could imagine. My family will never, ever forget what has happened here,” Linda's sister, Luwanda Hawkins said. “My mother will take this to her grave."

Hawkins told ABC15 News her whole family is devastated. Many of them flew in from across the country to pay their respects to Whiting.

Prayers, balloons and comforting hugs filled Whiting's memorial at the apartment complex located near 12th Street and Bell Road where Phoenix police say 18-year-old Kevin Anderson shot her to death.

Detectives believe Anderson was aiming his gun at his mother and stepdad earlier this week. They say Linda was an innocent bystander who just happened to be in the way.

"Wrong place, wrong time, but it's sad to say that,” relative Halston Howard said. “At a certain point you just have to tell everyone you care about that you love them every time that you see them because you never know when they're going to be taken away from you."

Hawkins is furious with Anderson and what he allegedly did, but says the family's grief highlights a much bigger problem.

"We feel sorry for this 18-year-old's family, but what is my mother and father supposed to do? They don't have their baby, Linda,” she said. “What is my nephew Kevin supposed to do now that he doesn't have his mother because another kid got a gun in his hand and took someone's life. We have to do something about these kids getting guns."

Anderson is being held in jail.

Police say he shot two other people besides Whiting. His stepdad was one of those hit. At last check, he was in the hospital in critical condition.

Police say the shooting happened after Anderson got into a fight with his stepdad, but it's unknown what the fight was about.