ORLANDO, Fla. — Akyra Murray, 18, was the youngest victim of the 49 people to die inside the Pulse nightclub Sunday morning in Orlando.
Murray had just graduated from high school in Philadelphia and had plans to go to college and someday work for the FBI, her mother said.
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Murray was by an exit at the club when the bullets starting flying, she ran out with a friend, but then ran back into the club when she realized her cousin was still inside, witnesses said.
Eyewitness News first talked to Natalie Murray, Akyra Murray’s mother on Sunday on Sunday as she paced outside the hospital and waited to find out what happened to her daughter.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know she was in the club, at the hospital, I was all over the place, a mess,” said Natalie Murray.
Akyra Murry, Patience Carter and another victim were among the dozens held hostage by Omar Mateen inside a bathroom.
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“She called and she said, ‘I’ve been shot in the arm, please help me, call the cops she said. ‘I’m bleeding really bad, please help me, please mommy,’” the mother said.
Natalie Murray called her daughter a hero for not leaving family behind.
“She knows that’s how she was raised, we stick together from beginning and end, regardless of what it costs her,” the mother said.
Cox Media Group
