On a cold November night in 2019, the life of 18-year-old Elarrah Findley was tragically cut short in a burst of violence on a street in Wilkinsburg, a borough just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. An African American female with a promising future, Elarrah was a student at Passport Academy Charter School with dreams of becoming an Emergency Medical Technician.
Friends and family remember her as an outgoing, kind, and funny young woman who was working hard to graduate.
The evening of Sunday, November 24th, found Elarrah in a car on Midland Street with her 22-year-old boyfriend, Jerrell Jeffries. The two were in the front seats, with another individual seated behind them. It was this third person who, for reasons that remain under investigation, opened fire inside the vehicle. Jerrell was struck by multiple gunshots and died in the driver's seat. In a desperate attempt to save her own life, Elarrah fled the car, running down the street. The assailant gave chase, shooting her multiple times and leaving her to die in the middle of the road. Both Elarrah and Jerrell were pronounced dead at the scene.
The aftermath of the shooting left a community in mourning and a family desperate for answers. Elarrah's mother, Ebony Saunders, spoke of the immense pain of losing her daughter in such a brutal manner, stating that the perpetrator 'crushed my soul and he changed my life for the rest of my life.' In the days and months that followed, community members and groups like 'Elarrah's Angels,' a youth group formed in her honor, held rallies and vigils to remember Elarrah and to call for an end to gun violence.
Despite the public outcry and the ongoing investigation by the Allegheny County Police, no arrests have been made in the double homicide of Elarrah Findley and Jerrell Jeffries. Investigators have suggested that a drug deal and a robbery may have been the motives behind the killings, as stamp bags of suspected heroin or fentanyl were discovered in the vehicle. However, without a suspect in custody, these theories remain unconfirmed. The families of the victims continue to hope that justice will one day be served for the senseless loss of two young lives.
