Slain North Las Vegas teen’s mom says daughter ‘had a good heart’
Indya Willis was gearing up for all of the exciting events that come with senior year, like prom and graduation. She was even looking forward to getting her driver’s license.
Her out-of-town relatives were beginning to make plans to watch her walk in her graduation ceremony when the 17-year-old’s life was cut short in a North Las Vegas shooting on Wednesday.
Kimberly Harris identified her daughter as the victim of the shooting that occurred in a home on the 1100 block of Gary Carmena Avenue, near East Centennial Parkway and Losee Road.
“She had a good heart and good friends,” Harris said. “She would be the one all of her friends would call to vent to, and she would just listen and give advice.”
Cierra Smith was one of those friends.
Smith met Willis two years ago through a mutual friend. They had bonded over a dress for homecoming.
“Since that point, we became sisters,” Smith said. “Indya is not my friend, she is my sister.”
Smith, who was planning to take Willis on a cruise to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to celebrate her graduation, said no one could be sad around Willis.
Willis was goofy, fun and beautiful inside and out, said Smith, who loved to make fun of her friend’s Chicago accent.
Smith, a student at the College of Southern Nevada, is a year older than Willis and graduated from Legacy High School last year. She was helping Willis with her college applications and financial aid paper work.
Willis had submitted applications to Arizona State University, Alabama State University and UCLA, and was planning to study nursing. Both her mother and favorite aunt are registered nurses.
Smith described Willis as the spitting image of her mother. She described them as two of the strongest people she knows.
Smith was in the process of helping her younger friend get her driver’s license. Willis hadn’t passed her first driver’s test but was preparing to take it again. Smith recalled taking the teen driving and trying to teach her to parallel park.
“She ran over the cones we had set up to try to help her,” Smith said, laughing.
Seneca Carey, 21, is accused of shooting Willis. He was booked on Wednesday into the Las Vegas Detention Center and faces one count of murder with a deadly weapon. Harris said the two had been dating a short time.
Carey is being held without bail. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
North Las Vegas police said Carey dropped Willis off at MountainView Hospital, where she died. Police said Carey stayed at the hospital throughout the investigation.
Born and raised on the east side of Chicago, Harris moved her family to Las Vegas only two years ago, to try to raise her children in a better environment. Willis was born in Blue Island, Illinois, and lived with her family in Sauk Village, Illinois, before moving to Las Vegas.
Willis was finishing her last year at Legacy High School in North Las Vegas. Her mother said she was a great student who went to school and then to work at the 99 Cents Only Store, “and started it all again the next day.”
Harris helps take care of her elderly mother and grandmother at home and said Willis would help her there as well, as her “right hand.”
“She would help by going to the grocery store for me, and I would give her a list, and she would go into the store with the list and get everything within five minutes,” Harris said.
Willis also had just ordered her cap and gown for graduation and was looking at prom dresses.
Harris is still mourning the loss of her daughter, but “justice for Indya” also is on her mind.
“She didn’t deserve this,” the woman said. “I want everyone to know what happened.”
Harris said she will be “standing tall” for her daughter during any court hearings.
The family is accepting donations through GoFundMe.
Contact Rachel Spacek at rspacek@
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