Jada Sellers remembered by family as a natural leader and ‘the life of the room’

The family of Jada Sellers, the 17-year-old Milford Mill Academy honor student who died recently from injuries suffered in a shooting in West Baltimore, is sharing their memories of her and feelings of deep loss.

Sellers was shot in the 700 block of Lyndhurst Street in the early morning hours of July 31 and died 12 days later, despite efforts by doctors to save her at the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland.

The 18-year-old suspect in Sellers’ death took his life at his family’s home in Woodlawn on the night of Aug. 20 as officers approached, Baltimore Police said. Sellers’ family has said the two had previously been in a relationship.

Ahead of a funeral Saturday morning at New Antioch Baptist Church in Windsor Mill, members of Sellers family spoke with WJZ.

‘Jada’s my angel’

Jada Sellers was the baby of the family but had a heart as big as her spirit.

“I remember she would come home and say, ‘The queen is home,’” recalled her mother, Latarsha Sellers. “I said, ‘I’m the queen. You’re the princess.’ And you know what? Now, I’m looking at it like she’s the angel.”

Her mom named her after Jada Pinkett, the up-and-coming actress she met in seventh grade at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Pinkett, a Baltimore native, would marry fellow actor Will Smith.

Pinkett “actually became great at a time when most Black women never got on television, and so, when Jada was born, I said I’m going to name you Jada because I want you to know you can do anything you want to. Anything! And Jada lived up to the name,” her mother said.

The teen’s father, Eric Sellers Sr., told the news station: “My friends always joked that she was the smallest, but she was the leader. She was always in charge.”

He remembered her growing up singing in the church and shared a video of his daughter swimming in the pool as a child. He said watching it has brought him comfort since her death.

“She’s jumping in the water, the deep part. She had her little swimmers on her arms. She was so happy,” her father said.

Her parents said they continue to feel her presence. They have left her bedroom exactly as it was before her death.

“Jada’s my angel and that’s how I’m looking at this at this point. I’m sad, but I really feel like Jada is right here with me because Jada is awesome. She is awesome,” Latarsha Sellers said.

She recounted how her daughter recently spoke about going away to Texas for college and remembered her confidence, intelligence and athleticism.

Jada Sellers was Milford Mill Academy’s student government and National Honor Society vice president.

“She was just a go-getter naturally because that’s who she was. She lived up to her name. She could do anything she put her mind to,” her mother said.

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen’

Jada Sellers spent 12 days in the hospital after she was shot, fighting for her life.

“Without the love, this would’ve been 10 times harder,” Latarsha Sellers said. “This was already shocking. I understand why they call it shock trauma now because this was a shock. This is hard. Every day I wake up to the same nightmare. Every single day, it’s the same nightmare.”

The family declined to speak about the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.

Police identified Christian Hursey, Sellers’ 18-year-old former boyfriend, as their sole suspect. They said he shot her outside a home in Edmondson Village, a homicide captured on security cameras.

Hursey then went on the run. Baltimore police described him as armed and dangerous.

Authorities said Hursey died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as a Baltimore County SWAT Team moved in to serve a warrant at his family’s home one week ago.

Court records show that when Hursey was a child, his own mother was fatally shot by his father in 2017 following years of abuse. The couple had divorced in 2010.

“There’s nothing you can do with anger. There’s nothing you can do with it,” Latarsha Sellers said. “But what we’re going to do is focus on our happy moments, our happy times, and doing the things that Jada would want us to do, which is love.”

Eric Sellers Sr. added, “Parents and kids have to communicate. That’s just what I’ll say, you have to communicate with your parents.”

‘She never stopped smiling’

Joining their parents in the interview, Jada Sellers’ siblings said her death has left a void in their lives.

Wearing a pink hat with the words “Big Sister” emblazoned on the front, Jasmine Sellers said her message to Jada is that “it was an honor being your big sister. I just love you.”

Her brother Eric Sellers Jr. said the family is trying to focus on the positive.

“She liked to have fun, and that’s what made this household so fun — because Jada would always be smiling. She never stopped smiling, even when bad situations happened, she would just keep smiling through it,” her brother said. “Jada is the life of the room. Now, the outpouring of love that’s happening is because of Jada. We’re all hurt. We don’t really know how to feel.”

Jada Sellers was also a proud aunt and doted on her nephew.

“She would always find a way to get our family together, and I think that really comes through in these times because she hasn’t left us,” said her sister-in-law Aliyanna Sellers. “She’s still working on the family.”

And they will never forget her.

“I’ve got to do something with the pain, and for me, it’s thinking of her as an angel,” Sellers’ mother said. “She’s my angel.”

WJZ is a media partner of The Banner.