Family, friends grieve for 12-year-old missing 6 months, found murdered in Frankford

A 12-year-old girl missing for six months, just days ago, found dead. Her friends and family want to know what happened.

Orange balloons released in memory of 12-year-old girl who lost her life to gun violence. Alezauna Carter, known to family and friends as Libby, died after someone shot her in the face.

"She was a strong girl, but she didn’t deserve this. Not at all," said mom Trisha.

Her mother, Trisha, spoke during a vigil Tuesday evening

"We all tried to look for her and keep her safe. Every day, was looking out for this child," Trisha added.

Police say Libby was reported missing in November 2020. She was last seen the morning of October 12th, near the 7100 block of Theodore Street in Southwest Philadelphia.

Six months later, on April 18th, police found someone shot in the mouth in a first floor apartment on the 1500 block of Overington Street in Frankford. At that time, they only referred to the victim as an unidentified female who died at the scene.

It wasn’t until May 1st that Libby was identified.

Her older cousin said she was a good girl who liked doing TikTok and dancing.

"They think cause she out in the street, she doing something bad. Nah, people just hang around the wrong group of people," Libby's cousin stated.

Police say she had run away several times from her parents and guardian care. The day after the murder, police released surveillance video showing someone they called a suspect.

"This is a child that’s walking around in the street. We don’t know what happened, but we are going to find out," Libby's aunt said.

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