Aunt of gunned-down Food Lion worker: 'I was on the phone with her during the shooting'

HENDERSON, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A Henderson family is still mourning the loss of their loved one just days after she was gunned-down at work.

Shaekeya Gay was shot outside her job at Food Lion last Saturday, Henderson Police said, by a bitter ex-boyfriend who ABC11 discovered had violated a restraining order.

READ MORE: Family of gunned-down Food Lion worker: 'Loving him took her life'

Now the family is honoring her with a vigil on what would have been her 24th birthday, asking for justice.

"This is the most tragic and the most senseless (thing) I have ever heard in my life," said the victim's aunt, Barbara Gay. "I want to know why. Why did you do her like that? It's wrong."

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Marcus Tyrell Hargrove, 23, her estranged live-in boyfriend of two years, is accused of pulling the trigger.

Henderson police said while Gay was taking a break, Hargrove pulled out a gun and shot her in the head.

Barbara said she was on the phone with Shaekeya during the attack.

"I was saying Keya, Keya can you hear me? What's going on? And I never heard any response," Barbara said. "I just heard screams. And I felt helpless because I was at home and didn't have no transportation to see what was going on with or anything."

Shaekeya was rushed to the hospital where she later died.

Her mother, Angela Gay, said she'll miss her daughter's spirit the most.

"Her smile," she said. "Her heart. Her spirit. So lovable. Such a lovable child."

The family believes her story should be a wake-up call.

"This is too much, this is too much," Angela said. "Something's gotta be done. There are too many young women going away from domestic violence."

"Talk about it, don't just sit around and let this happen," Barbara said. "It's not right for a man to mentally and physically abuse a woman. You have to seek help."