The case is still unresolved, and authorities have yet to make any arrests in connection with the death of Shakanah China.
The teen was gunned down while she sat in her front yard on Atka Court. She was not the intended target of the drive-by shooting, but died from gunshot wounds in her mother's arms.
Nearly half of Durham's murders in 2011 are still unsolved, but China's mother hopes the person responsible comes forward.
"Put yourself in my shoes and feel the pain and suffering I'm going through," Demetriss China said.
China's mother told ABC11 she stays in contact with the lead detective in the case. She believes gang violence is to blame for the death of her daughter.
"Whatever it was over, my child didn't have nothing to do with it," China said. "I hope they are having a very hard time sleeping at night, eating, drinking and everything else because you killed an innocent child for no apparent reason."
China also said Durham's police chief has let her family down.
"I feel like he don't care. I feel like if it was the other way around, yeah, he would care," she said.
"They're finding everybody else's killer, but they can't find my granddaughter's," said Benjamin china "I feel like the system is letting us down."
In the year since Shakanah's death, the family has had to relocate so that they could try and move on from the tragedy. The family told ABC11 their new home is in a much quieter place.
For now, China said she has to be strong for her other children who are still coping with their loss.
"It hurts my baby girl so much that sometimes she doesn't even want to talk about it. She'll just go in her room," China said.
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