'I feel so empty': Family mourns 34-year-old woman killed in Shorewood shooting
SHOREWOOD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Shorewood woman was killed in what family members say was an act of domestic violence that also led to a police chase ending in Milwaukee.
"I feel so empty and like I said I don’t even know, it's different," said Tanisha Jones, a cousin of Victoria Truss.
Shorewood police said three people were shot just before 3 a.m. Thursday, July 3. One of the victims, identified by family as 34-year-old Victoria Truss, died at the scene.
"Man we've got to think people," said Jones. "We got to have like some kind of value of life and compassion, because you don’t even know how y'all done broke me. I'm broken."
Growing up together, Jones says Truss has always been her number one supporter through every milestone.
"My bestie, like my heart," said Jones. "You don’t get nobody like that in life. She held all my secrets, always was supportive, always was smiling, always uplifting me and my kids."
Jones says Truss was a genuine and loving free spirit that always wore a warm smile through the toughest of times.
"It don't matter how the tears fall," said Jones. "I just try to keep the good memories and man she was everything to me. Everywhere you see me, it was her. Everywhere she went, I went."
Jones says Truss was her daughter's godmother and a dedicated single mom to her teenage son.
"My daughter asks about her everyday," said Jones. "What do you tell her? What do you say? How do you fill the void? How are you going to get somebody else like that again?"
She says she feels heartbroken and lost without her other half.
"It's like I look over and I got half a shadow," said Jones. "I'm stepping at half a footstep, and it's like you incomplete."
According to police, the suspect shot a responding officer who survived due to a bulletproof vest. Hours later, the suspect led multiple police departments on a chase that ended in a Milwaukee neighborhood. Officers reportedly shot and killed the suspect when he did not surrender.
Truss' cousin Ashley says Victoria was taken too soon. Ashley says her cousin was the light of every situation and would lend a hand to whoever needed it.
"I'm hoping that we continue to get together as a family, think of memories we have that are positive about her, not letting this be the defining thing we think about when we think about her. Just because she was so much more than that," shared Ashley.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, "criminals should not have their hands on guns, because when they do, they hurt people in our city, state, and country. And I wish that other levels of government who control gun laws would do something about it."
Neighbors and loved ones left behind flowers on Truss' doorstep, as she leaves behind a teenage son and a community that misses her.
Truss' family encourages anyone experiencing domestic violence to reach out for help.
Resources for those experiencing domestic violence can be found by visiting the City of Milwaukee's Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Resources directory by clicking here.