The organs of Jamahri Sydnor, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot earlier this month in Washington D.C., have been donated to patients in need, the Washington Post writes. She died 10 days before she was meant to enroll at Florida A&M University.
Sydnor, a cheerleading captain and member of her high school’s award-winning jazz choir, was gunned down by a stray bullet, D.C. police said. She was shot in her car while driving a younger relative home.
One man, Philip Carlos McDaniel, was arrested and charged with assault with intent to kill.
Hundreds showed up for a vigil last week to support Sydnor’s police officer mother Detective Sgt. Q Wallace.
“Jamahri was a good girl,” Wallace told the crowd. “She was perfect. She was smart, she was articulate. She was going places.”
She added: “She had dreams. Somebody just shot at my baby’s head and snatched the breath out of her.”
One of the people who also spoke was Sgt. Scott Lewis of the Upper Darby Township police in Pennsylvania. Lewis had been dispatched by his department to thank Sydnor’s family for donating her liver to one of his fellow officers. Patrol Officer Arty Erle had been waiting for a liver transplant after a history of health difficulties.
Sydnor’s family donated six of Jamahri’s organs to patients like Erle.
“We just came to show our appreciation. Jammi now lives on. Arty is one of the people she has saved,” Lewis told the Post.
An incredible gift from an incredible young woman. Her spirit lives on.