- UPDATE: Dontrel Jackson (34) has been arrested in connection to this case for crimes associated with involuntary manslaughter, domestic violence, and firearm related charges.
- Video shows funeral service and photos of Veniesha
- Veniesha Hanks was shot and killed in southwest Bakersfield in December, and more than one month later, her family continues to search for answers from police about what led up to her death.
One local family mourns the loss and celebrates the life of Veniesha Hanks, the woman killed in a shooting in southwest Bakersfield in December, and the family continues to search for answers about what led up to her death.
Dozens of people joined in a song of encouragement as the family of Veniesha Cobb laid her to rest after she was shot and killed in southwest Bakersfield on December 15th.
“Veniesha was everything to everybody,” Sophila Turner, Veiesha's cousin, said.
Turner tells me she lit up the room, and with crowds of people attending her funeral, Turner says she knew she was loved by many, but she emphasized the family’s frustration that someone hasn’t been charged for Venisha’s death.
“Do you know where they’re at in the investigation right now?" 23ABC's Dominique LaVigne asked.
“No, we don't know where they’re at in the investigation right now,” Turner said.
Turner adds they haven’t been in contact with detectives since the beginning of January, and as they wait for answers, Veniesha’s mother, Vesha Cobb has been raising the three children Veniesha left behind.
"My cousin, which is her mother, Vesha has to raise these three girls and for the rest of their life they’re going to be looking for their mother, and their mother is gone.”
Turner spoke for Cobb who was too emotional to speak after the funeral, saying they plan to start a nonprofit organization to support the children of victims in cases like her daughter’s.
“We’re going to open up an organization for the children that’s left behind because nobody thinks about the children that’s left behind,” Turner added.
Following an emotional service, Veniesha’s father ended the funeral by asking the attendees to leave with a smile, saying that’s what his daughter was known for.
“When we leave, I want everybody to smile, man. I’m done crying. My baby’s happy," he said.
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