Only On News 4: Mother of girl killed in CVPA shooting wants daughter to be remembered for her caring spirit

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- Coping with the loss of a daughter. Only News 4 sat down Wednesday with the mother of Alexzandria Bell, the 15-year-old shot and killed this week at a south St. Louis High School.

Keisha Acres described those frantic and terrifying moments from Monday morning. It’s a day that changed her life forever. She rushed to Central Visual and Performing Arts High School --even running several blocks on foot, as soon as she found out about the active shooter.

She told News 4′s Damon Arnold that when she got there, no one could point her in the right direction to find her daughter. Except for her daughter’s phone.

“Y’all keep saying my baby is either over here or she’s been transported to Gateway [STEM] already, but her phone is pinging in the school,” explained Acres.

She added, “I have a GPS tracking system on my daughter’s phone, like, I’m going to know where my daughter is at - and they were like, ‘well, maybe she dropped the phone,’ and I said, ‘you’re not understanding that phone is like her skin. It’s not going anywhere without her.’ And so they kept saying she’s over there. I said, ‘well, it’s been over an hour. My baby would have reached out and she would have found somebody’s phone and call to say, ‘mama, I’m okay come get me.’”

Acres gave officers photos of her daughter, Alexzandria. Shortly after, she was surrounded by unfamiliar faces - except for one. Her daughter’s principal, Dr. Kacy Shahid.

“I only knew one person,” said Acres. “So, I focused in on her face and I tell her I’ll believe it if you tell me because they don’t know her. They don’t know my baby. So, I said if you say it, Dr. Shahid, I’ll believe it. And she couldn’t get it out. She just broke down crying. And I just started screaming, because I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to leave with my daughter. And it sucks. I was in the midst of planning her sweet 16. Our daughter would have been 16 next month. So, now I have to turn those into funeral arrangements. No parent should have to bury a baby because somebody is being a butthole.”

Acres went on to share why she hasn’t been able to attend any vigils yet.

“I don’t feel like she’s alone anymore,” said Acres.

“Because I thought my baby was alone and scared. The first night I went home I couldn’t leave because I felt like she was going to come back and talk to me,” she said. “And she needed to know where I was. So, I stayed home, hoping that I got a glimpse of my baby even if it was in a dream and I didn’t want her to be scared that she couldn’t find her mom. That’s why I haven’t left my house, because I don’t know if she would know where to find me. Let your parents be extra - it helps.”

She told News 4 that the thought of waking up without Alexzandria is unreal.

“I was just like I made a really, really bad dream,” said Acres.

“I’m going to wake up and this would have just been one big nightmare. And think maybe it was just the lord was trying to tell me ‘I need your attention--and everything is gonna be okay.’ That’s what I want to happen. But I know that’s not true. And know that I’m about to lay my daughter to rest. I know I’m not ever going to see her face again,” she said.

Acres spoke about the parents of the gunman and expressed how she’d like to meet them, for it will give her a chance to voice all the hurt she has inside and possibly provide her some closure.

Acres said she wants people who have taken to social media with negative comments to know that you can never take it back and who you might hurt. She wants Alexzandria to be remembered for the free and caring spirit that she was.

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