KENNESAW, Ga. — Alasia Franklin dreamed of being a nurse practitioner and following in her family's footsteps of having a career in the medical field.
For her mother, Alinda Fortner, Alasia was sweet, humble and joyful. Her daughter was also hardworking and intelligent -- shown by her recently making all A's and the Dean's list at Kennesaw State University.
But the 21-year-old's aspirations shockingly came to an end over the weekend. Alasia was shot and killed on KSU's campus on Saturday.
Now, Fortner is giving more insight into the history between her daughter and the suspected killer.
A spokesperson for KSU Police said Samuel Harris allegedly shot and killed Alasia Franklin, 21, Saturday near the Austin Residence Complex on campus after a dispute.
"I am taken so aback by this situation because there is nothing -- when I say nothing on this Earth, that I can think that my daughter could have said or done to deserve this," Fortner said.
Fortner said she found out what happened to her daughter when a phone call jolted her out of her sleep.
"I got the first, initial phone call from the suspect's mother," Fortner stated.
Fortner, still in disbelief, said she started calling authorities and hospitals to get anything she could confirm. Once she found out her daughter was dead, she said she lost it.
"There are no words in three editions of Webster's Dictionary that can that I can put into description to explain how I feel," Fortner said.
Cobb County Police arrested Harris for murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm. Fortner said she knew Harris as her daughter's ex-boyfriend. She said they remained friends. Alasia even celebrated Harris' birthday with his family a few months ago.
"They had been dating since high school," Fortner said. "So, there is history there — not violent history."
Fortner said she doesn't even know how or why Harris was on campus, as he's not a student.
"I do have sense enough to know that, at that age — I've been 21 before," Fortner said. "You don't feel the need to tell Mama everything."
She's now coming to terms with the fact that there are some answers she's not going to get.
"I just hope that my daughter's story, my daughter's situation, is a wake-up call to so many across this nation," Fortner said.
Fortner said there are lessons in her daughter's story.
"We have to do better at parenting and teaching our young men how to treat a woman," Fortner said. "And not only that; how to deal with life when it's not going your way."
Fortner said while you can't control everything on an open campus, parents have to teach young girls how to spot red flags.
"Yes, you can put up bars, And yes, you can scan keys. And, yes, you can buckle down on the security and, maybe, not have such [an] open, come-and-go campus structure, but in the root of it all, I feel like it starts at home," Fortner said.
Fortner said she believes she may never feel justice.
"I don't care how many years they give him," Fortner said. "I don't care if they gave him 500,000 years. It'll never be enough justice for what's been done to my daughter."
KSU Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations are still investigating this case.
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