FORT PIERCE, Fla. — Nikkitia Bryant's family continues to mourn the loss of the 29-year-old mother who was killed in a mass shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"Before it didn't fully hit; the shoe didn't drop yet," Bryant's brother, Calvin Bethel, said Thursday. "But now I'm at a point where it's starting to kind of — well, it's not even starting — it is hitting me. It's hitting right now."
Bethel is feeling the pain of losing his sister.
"It's not just for me," he said. "It's hitting for my brother. It's hitting for my mom a lot — heavy for my mom."
Bryant was shot and killed while spending Martin Luther King Jr. Day with her daughter at Ilous Ellis Park in Fort Pierce. She was one of eight people shot that day at the park near Avenue M and 13th Street.
She was laid to rest last weekend, but frustration remains for family members still waiting for closure. Almost a month later, no one is in custody in connection with the shooting.
"I know the investigation is going to take time," Bethel said. "But the same way that you're out of the loop, I'm out of the loop as well on this. All I'm getting is, 'Hey, we're looking into it.'"
WPTV spoke with the St. Lucie Sheriff's Office, which is handling the investigation. Deputies said there were no updates in the case.
St. Lucie County commissioners Tuesday approved funding to put up security cameras at a boat ramp and several parks, including Ilous Ellis Park.
"I can't guarantee this past event what would have happened, but obviously, it would give us another, you know, source of information that was right there recorded, that is non-disputable evidence, who was involved and what happened," St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Brian Hester said.
Bethel can't understand why it took so long to happen.
"It's sadder than it is frustrating, and I know that's probably going to surprise a lot of people," he said. "But it's sadder than it is frustrating because, like, it took someone dying. It took my sister dying — my mother's daughter dying — for us to get a few cameras."
Security cameras will also be added to Pepper Park, Lakewood Park, Lawnwood Stadium and the Stan Blum boat ramp.
