3 family members With Mansfield ties found shot to death in Georgetown apartment

3 family members With Mansfield ties found shot dead

Police are searching for a person of interest after an 8-year-old girl, her mother, and her cousin were found shot to death in a Georgetown, Texas, apartment.

GEORGETOWN, Texas - A family with ties to Mansfield were found shot and killed in their apartment.

FOX 4’s Vania Castillo shares how their family is reeling and why police are still searching for the suspect.

What we know:

The youngest victim was only 8 years old. Tonight, her family is remembering her as a bright girl with so much love to give, and trying to bring her, her mom, and their cousin back to Mansfield. 

8-year-old Olivia Brooks, her mother Doneisha Brooks, and Doneisha’s cousin Alonzo Hawkins were all found dead inside of Doneisha’s Georgetown apartment on Saturday night.

Georgetown police say all three had been shot. 

Olivia and Doneisha had recently moved to Georgetown from Mansfield. Alonzo, affectionately nicknamed "Trouble" followed shortly after.

What they're saying:

"She'd take care of everybody. That's why Trouble [Alonzo Hawkins] went down there to stay so she could help him out by getting on the right track and stuff like that," said the victim's brother, Joe Brooks.

"Who would want to hurt her? You know, I mean, it's just, it’s sick," said sister-in-law Kayla Brooks.

"Who would hurt a baby? She had so much love, she was so bright."

Dig deeper:

According to the family, on Friday night someone tried to kick in Doneisha’s door and get into her apartment.

"She had gone and got Alonzo because she was scared, and she couldn't get anyone to help her fix her door handle. So, he said that he would help fix it," said Kayla.

"And he wanted to make sure she was safe, so he spent the night. And then this happened."

Police believe the victims knew the person who killed them. 

"That just crushed us. I think that crushed everyone. And we're still trying to pick up pieces, and we can't," said Kayla.

"We get the what ifs all the time. What happened? Did they know? Did they suffer? You know? And it's just we're waiting to hear those answers, and they might not be the answers that we want. Or anything, but we're waiting for those answers from the police department so we can have some kind of closure."

Right now, their family is trying to raise enough money to bring their loved one’s bodies back home to Mansfield so they can lay them to rest.

What's next:

Police say they’ve identified a person of interest, but they haven’t shared that identity publicly, and they still haven’t been able to find that person.