DALLAS _ NeQuacia Jacobs couldn't wait for graduation day.
The high school senior would be recognized as an honor student. Her family would wear T-shirts with her beaming face. People would scream her name and cheer.
The day came. But NeQuacia didn't get to see it.
The 18-year-old died from a gunshot wound to her chest in February, in an apparently random act of violence in southeast Oak Cliff. A bullet also hit her 17-year-old sister as the girls looked out their living room window.
Now, six months later, her family and community are still trying to cope with her death.
At South Oak Cliff High School's graduation, NeQuacia's seat was empty amid the rows of nearly 300 classmates. Graduation day is meant to be inspiring, a time for celebration. But instead, it was overlaid with sadness for many.
"We lost another passionate young person who had dreams and aspirations. Someone who knew that they were going to do something," said Bran'neisha Burrell, 18, her friend and former drill team member.
These individual tragedies add up: Gun violence is the leading cause of homicide for young people in Dallas County. Last year, 63 people under age 25 were shot to death, not including suicide deaths, according to an analysis of Dallas County autopsy records by The Dallas Morning News.
NeQuacia's case is still unsolved and got scant attention outside her community. Her grieving family wants to make sure her life is not forgotten.
This is her story.
