Three-year-old Cherish Jackson loved the color pink and adored balloons, according to her mother, Casey Scott.
That's why the grieving mother asked that relatives, loved ones and community members — many of whom did not know her daughter but were moved by her
violent death — bring pink balloons to release at sunset Monday in a memorial for the young girl.
"She fought hard to stay here with us," Scott said of her daughter. "It just wasn’t meant for her to be."
The 3-year-old
died Sunday afternoon at Sacred Heart Hospital. Authorities said her father, Terrence D. Jackson,
shot her twice before taking his own life Saturday afternoon, not far from Scott’s apartment.
Authorities said Jackson often picked up Cherish from her mother’s home on Saturdays, and the father and daughter would walk together to a nearby store. This past Saturday, the two walked about 100 yards from Scott's home before Jackson pulled out a pistol and shot Cherish twice before shooting himself in the head, according to the Escambia County Sheriff's Office.
Terrence Jackson died at the scene, and Cherish was transported to the hospital in critical condition before succumbing to her injuries the following day.
