NEWPORT NEWS — The Newport News community is remembering a Menchville High School student, 16-year-old Kaleiah "Mo" Jones, who died after suffering a medical emergency at school Tuesday.
A large group braved the rain Friday and gathered to honor the sophomore.
"She'd make us all cookies, cakes and bring them down," one man shared. "Always had a smile."
"I'd watch them bond back and forth," a woman spoke of Jones' bond with her daughter. "It was just like they'd been friends for years."
"She'd call me and ask if we could go to the mall," said a family member as she teared up. "I just miss us having that alone time to bond."
Neighbor Ruby Sheppard remembered when Jones's family moved in.
"Her whole family have been so kind to me," said Sheppard. "The first time I ever met them. They had only moved into their house maybe a month or two, and my husband passed away, and they were at my door with flowers doing everything that they could to help me."
Newport News
Menchville student has medical emergency in school, dies in hospital
Jones, Sheppard said, stuck out.
"She was the kindest most soft-spoken, generous person for a young person to come over and talk with a widowed woman," said Sheppard.
"She could plan parties," added Porscha Frank, Jones' aunt. "She could bake. She was the leader. Even though she was younger than some, she could lead them."
What happened Tuesday certainly left a void.
"I was heartbroken. And I still am. She just touched my heart," said Sheppard. "I know the pain her family is going through. They know how much I love them."
Jones, who had a heart condition (Bradycardia), was at school when she passed out. The school said she was tended to by staff and a student resource officer before paramedics arrived. She later died.
"Just because her heart did beat in a different rhythm, if they had started chest compressions, it would have started back her heart," said Frank. "That's the point we are trying to make. Whether the person knew or not, the action was the same for each and every child."
The family, who reviewed video from the incident, said Jones didn't get the lifesaving care she needed for nine minutes. They're upset with the school's response.
"Like her mother said, all [Jones] got was a towel," said Frank. "Don't pretend to be there. Be there."
"You start CPR, you get that AED connected, you watch that rhythm and you do what that machine tells you to do. That's what we're trained to do," said Tesha Sheaffers, Jones' grandmother. "Even though it was my granddaughter. It could be anybody's granddaughter, daughter, anybody's child."
A spokesperson for Newport News Public Schools told News 3 that school administrators and teachers are required to be CPR certified and School Security Officers are also trained. The spokesperson said there are at least three AEDs at each high school in the district.
"Our thoughts are with the student's family and friends," said the spokesperson.
In the meantime, the family doesn't want something like this to happen to anyone else.
"Any chance that I get from this moment forward to raise my voice for Kaleiah to be her voice since hers was stripped from her, I will take that chance," Kaleiah's aunt, Shondale Cross, told those at the vigil.
They encouraged others to learn CPR.
The vigil ended with nine minutes of silence, the family said, for the nine minutes Jones needed lifesaving care.
"It's heartbreaking," said Cross.
"Once you really set there and you think about it, and you really sit there and think about it, saying she's still waiting for help," said Frank. "She's still waiting for help. She's still waiting for help. It was the longest nine minutes."
