Teen gunned down in North Las Vegas wanted to change her life
Abigail Fischl was trying to change.
“I saw it. I felt it. I heard it,” her mother, Tina Fischl, said Tuesday.
But the charismatic 18-year-old everyone called Abby had her life cut short Saturday night when she was gunned down in North Las Vegas.
She died during surgery at University Medical Center, police said.
Fischl’s sister, Nikki Weick, said Abby was trying to overcome emotional trouble present and past. Losses in the family left Abby afraid to be alone and may have drawn her to the streets.
Abby Fischl was convicted in October of conspiracy to commit grand larceny in an August robbery. Her mother said her only involvement in the robbery was that she laughed as a man was assaulted and picked up his phone when it fell.
After the conviction, Tina Fischl held a family intervention, which motivated her daughter to change her life.
“She was growing up, and I just was starting to see that,” the mother said.
Tina Fischl said her daughter was strong, fearless and resilient.
“She’s had bad things happen to her, she bounces right back,” Fischl said. “She has people who dislike her, and she bounces right back.”
In many ways, Abby Fischl was just like any other teenager. She wore braces, and she liked Gucci shoes, doing her hair and taking pictures on her phone.
She liked listening to hip-hop — the obscurer the artist, the better. She liked Johnny Cash because his music reminded her of her stepfather.
Tina Fischl was awakened late Sunday night by a phone call from the Clark County coroner’s office. She and her family still don’t know why her daughter was killed, but they are prepared for whatever the investigation reveals.
“I don’t understand what she did that really justified them taking her life,” Weick said.
North Las Vegas police arrested 20-year-old Jamario Washington in connection with the shooting late Sunday night. He is being held at the Las Vegas Detention Center and faces one count each of murder and attempted murder. Investigators are searching for another man for questioning, but no additional arrests had been made Tuesday night.
“I miss her so much,” Fischl said through tears, hugging her phone, which displayed a photo of her daughter.
Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.
