Alaysha Carradine had no problem getting up for school in the morning. As the first person awake in her Oakland, Calif., home, Alaysha would get dressed, then climb back into bed until the rest of her family woke up. She was so quiet that it was often difficult to tell if she was awake yet or not, her step-grandmother, Sharon Smith, told msnbc. Alaysha enjoyed going to school and would enter the third grade in the fall.
Alaysha liked to sit at the kitchen table to draw and color. She drew hearts and flowers, and kept a collection of art pencils and glitter to use for her creations.
Alaysha, referred to as "Ladybug" by her family, turned 8 at the end of June. Earlier this year she joined a modeling production company where she learned how to walk like a model. But she had serious side as well, asking her mother to take her to church. She was a well-behaved child who, Smith said, was "just a joy to be around."
Alaysha was fatally shot at a sleepover on July 17 when a gunman fired multiple shots into an Oakland apartment complex after ringing the doorbell and being greeted at the front door by Alaysha's friend. Two other children and their grandmother were wounded. The investigation is ongoing.