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The balloon release was in honor of the Hattiesburg student lost to gun violence
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The balloon release was in honor of the Hattiesburg student lost to gun violence

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – It’s been a year since 21-year-old Jade Rhodes was shot and killed while leaving a Halloween party in Forrest County.

Investigators with the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office said Rhodes was an innocent bystander in the Oct. 29 shooting.

Five suspects were arrested and all but one went free.

Friends and family at the launch said Rhodes was a light to everyone around her through her music and other talents.

Her death is something her father believes should be a wake-up call.

“What I would like to see is this legal system revamped,” said Rhodes’ father, Dewayne Bailey. “There should not be habitual criminals roaming the streets for two or three years before they are prosecuted.

So we have to look at who we’re voting with as prosecutors and judges.”

Rhodes’ family created the Love Angel Foundation to provide scholarships to local youth through contests and oratorical contests.

Learn more by contacting her mother, Joyce Bailey, at (601)-265-1175.

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