Candy G’Sell, a mother from Missouri, made a horrific discovery on Saturday afternoon, July 11, when she walked into a room in her home and found her 16-year-old daughter, Gabbriana Boyster, sitting up and unresponsive.
Paramedics later confirmed that the teen had been dead for some time by the time help arrived.
Investigators with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office believe Gabbriana was shot in the head on Friday evening while she was at home with her friends. However, instead of reporting the shooting, the suspects allegedly left Gabby’s body inside the home for hours.
Investigators say Gabby’s mother had been away at the time of the shooting.
Authorities have pointed to the teens who were with Gabbriana at the time of the shooting for failing to call 911 or report her death, leaving her mother to discover the body the following day.
According to a statement from the Jefferson County Juvenile Office, three minors have been charged in connection with the shooting. One was charged with involuntary manslaughter, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon resulting in death, and abandonment of a corpse, and remains in custody. Two other minors were charged only with abandonment of a corpse and have since been released.
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Authorities have not officially released the suspects’ names or genders due to their ages, though G’Sell told 5 On Your Side all three were boys who were friends with her daughter.
In a conversation with 5 On Your Side, the victim’s mother recalled a normal conversation with Gabbriana the night before the shooting. “She told me she was staying home. I told her to lock the door,” G’Sell spoke about their last conversation. I walked in the room, and she was laying there… sitting up,” she added. “In the blink of an eye, you know. She didn’t deserve that.”
G’Sell described Gabby, the youngest of her three children, as a kind-hearted, innocent girl who always looked for the good in people.
“It’s not fair,” G’Sell said, adding, “My daughter was sweet and innocent and kind. And she loved her friends… for them, her friends, to just leave her…”
She further urged other teenagers to understand the real-world consequences of firearms. “It’s not a game. Guns are not toys,” she said.
Gabbriana’s tragic death and the mother’s heartbreak have drawn an outpouring of reaction online.
A viewer on YouTube wrote, “These three kids need to be treated as adults that committed an adult crime and should be tried as adults and receive the death penalty!! As for the parents they too should have been arrested and charged with the girls murder and should receive life in prison without the chance of parole!”
Another viewer pointed at their moral decline, “The cowardly (expletive) just left her for dead. No moral compass.”
A third netizen rang a similar tune and wrote, “The second a gun is involved all charges should be adult charges. (expletive) the 2 tiered soft on criminals system. These ‘kids’ need hard time don’t let them get out until they are in their 50’s.”
“This is a Death Penalty case and all three should get it,” read a separate comment.
Disclaimer: The Inquisitr could not independently confirm all facts of this incident and is reporting based on the information available within the public record.
