Police seek person of interest in teen's murder

HOUSTON Houston police released a composite sketch Tuesday, but they're careful to say he's not the killer -- only a person wanted for questioning.

But the girl's family had a lot to say.

"She never had a chance to make it," her mother, Kisha Lambert, said.

Inside Shatavia Anderson's north Houston apartment, the emotions are still raw, and anger is one of them.

"He needs to burn in hell -- that's the way I feel about it," Anderson's aunt, Rose Thomas, said.

It has now been almost four days since Anderson was gunned down just feet from her home. Fresh flowers and new teddy bears mark the site.

Houston police say she was robbed. She was just 14 years old.

"What can a 14-year-old girl have in their purse, on their body, that you would take her life for?" Thomas asked.

Anderson's family at times spoke directly to the killer.

Investigators released a composite sketch on Tuesday afternoon of a man wanted for questioning, but they also spoke to other teens.

"You have your whole life ahead of you," Anderson's other aunt, Shawnta Cooper, said. "Don't rush it. Don't try to be grown before your age."

Lambert says Anderson lied to her that night.

"She was supposed to have gone to a party earlier in the evening," Lambert said.

Instead, she was out at 1am Sunday with a friend. They parted ways at a nearby gas station, and she never made it home.

"Listen to your parents, because this world is cruel, and you don't want to be where our baby is," Thomas said.

Anderson was excited about her freshman year at Nimitz High School and making the volleyball team. Her parents describe her as joyful and confident.

They showed Eyewitness News the last photo of her, as they grieve they also yearn for the day when her killer is caught.

"Yes, that would help," Cooper said.

But they differ on what that day may bring.

"If he could forward and turns himself in, he will be forgiven," said Anderson's grandmother, Sandra Lambert.

"I have no forgiveness for you. You need to pay with your life," Thomas said. "She didn't deserve this; she's 14!"

The person of interest is described as Hispanic man in his late 20's or early 30's, has an average build and is about 5 feet 9 inches tall. Anyone who recognizes the man depicted in the sketch is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477 or HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

Memorial services for Anderson are scheduled to begin Saturday with a viewing at 8am followed by the funeral at 10. It will be held at the Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, 5117 Lockwood.