Slain Ringgold senior remembered as ‘outgoing, loving’
Billie Jo Dawson remembers her daughter as a kind and caring individual.
She described Annalaya Wilkerson as a loving older sister to 12 siblings and stepsiblings.
“She was outgoing, loving, full of life and goofy as hell,” Dawson said Wednesday. “All she did was smile.”
Wilkerson, 18, of Monongahela, was found shot to death in the 500 block of Jolly School Road in South Franklin Township at about 11 p.m. Saturday. Police also found a juvenile girl had been shot. She was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. District Attorney Jason Walsh said Wednesday the youth remains in the hospital.
“That was (Wilkerson’s) best friend,” Dawson said of the other shooting victim.
Dawson had fallen asleep and was awakened by a phone call that night from state police. They were wanting to speak with her in person, and had gone to an old address in Donora.
“I just knew something was wrong. I just knew. I knew when (police) called me,” Dawson said.
Jolly School Road connects Route 18 with Interstate 70. Police found the two victims after residents in the area called 911 to report hearing shots. Dawson thought the location was strange, noting neither her daughter nor her friend had a car.
“You can’t walk there. My daughter and her would have never been there just walking along that road. There has to be a car involved,” Dawson said.
Dawson claims to know the identity of the person who shot Wilkerson and her friend. A Facebook post that has been shared more than 500 times this week also names a potential suspect.
Walsh said he was aware of the social media activity, but declined to comment on the investigation. As of Wednesday, no arrests had been made.
Wilkerson was a senior at Ringgold High School and expected to graduate this year. Dawson said she had plans to go on to culinary school.
Dawson said her daughter had a passion for reading and writing poetry, and was also an avid poster to the TikTok social media platform.
“She recorded everything,” Dawson said. “She was just so goofy and full of life.”
In the days following Wilkerson’s death, a family friend set up a GoFundMe page to help Dawson pay for funeral expenses. The fund had reached nearly $5,000 by Wednesday afternoon.
The GoFundMe refers to Wilkerson by her nickname, La La.
“La La was a beautiful, funny, very spirited young girl. She was taken way too soon,” reads the description on the fundraiser page.
A viewing for Wilkerson will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at First Baptist Church in Donora followed by a funeral immediately after in Monongahela Cemetery, according to the GoFundMe page.
Dawson hopes that an arrest in her daughter’s murder is made soon.
“I just want justice for my daughter,” Dawson said. “It’s a sad world we live in.”