Young mother killed outside Detroit Coney Island was breaking up fight before being shot
27-year-old gunned down outside Detroit Coney Island
Donae Wilbert led her life with her heart, her mom said. "She would give you the shirt off of her back. She was always helping people," said LaDonna Kemp. It was Wilbert's interest in helping people that family says is the reason she was murdered over Labor Day weekend.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Donae Wilbert led her life with her heart, her mom said. "She would give you the shirt off of her back. She was always helping people," said LaDonna Kemp.
It was Wilbert's interest in helping people that family says is the reason she was murdered over Labor Day weekend.
The 27-year-old was shot in the parking lot of Hollywood Coney Island on Detroit's west side early Sunday morning. The shooting happened after she had tried breaking up a fight.
"We had to even tell her like you can’t pull over in your car when you are by yourself because you see somebody on the road and they need help, because it’s dangerous out there," said Kemp. "She was kinda like the type of person that would have to try and see for herself.
Wilbert had had a fun night out with her girlfriends in the hours before she was killed.
After the revelry had died down, they went to get a bite to eat when an argument developed between two men and a woman near Wilbert's friends, sources told FOX 2.
Kemp said her daughter just wanted everybody to go home. "I'm very sure in my thoughts that she wanted to get home," she said.
"I guess the guy followed her out and she was able to get herself out of the restaurant and she was shot in the parking lot," Kemp added.
The family wasn't able to touch Wilbert, but they said when they went to view her body, she was still smiling.
The incident is tragic. For Detroit activist Pastor Mo, it's also enraging.
"She was doing the right thing and that's what angers me," he said.
Mo works with community groups by teaching de-escalation techniques. The goal, he says, is to quash beefs before they turn violent. He offered this advice for a safe conflict resolution.
"Make sure you are in a lighted area" he said. "Read body language. Look and see if there’s anything poking out their waist. Look at their type of demeanor.
"I’m not trying to judge anybody but if it’s somebody who looks like they can be dangerous, menacing or just don’t care, be careful how you approach somebody who could be having a mental breakdown."
Wilbert's family is determined to make sure her legacy lives on.
"I just want whoever did this to know they took away such a bright light that shined on so many different people," said Kemp. "Everybody that she ever talked to will remember because of just her great shine - just her personality was amazing and she was amazing."