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Witness recalls 15-year-old shooting victim's final moments

Mancie Means did not know Lezra Rice, but the 15-year-old was shot and killed almost before her eyes and that she cannot forget.

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"What could that baby have done to you that was so bad?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

Means, who lives on William Street in Duquesne, told Channel 11 she and her boyfriend got to the teen as fast as they could but she could see he had been shot in the head.

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“That's what brought me to the window, the gunshot,” She said. “And I looked and I seen the little boy falling and I'm like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!’

“I seen the little boy going to the ground and I flew down the steps to go and see if he was still alive.”

Rice lived in North Braddock, and when he was found in this remote area of Duquesne, he had his backpack and his schoolbooks, and inside the backpack was a wrapped hoagie.

Police believe he was shot and killed right where he was found.

As police narrow their search for the gunman, neighbors who were there told Channel 11 they were not about to let the young victim spend his last moments in an alleyway all alone.

“Every time I look over there, it brings tears to my eyes,” Means said. “It was so heartbreaking.

"That could have been my baby,” she said. “That could have been my grandson and that's something I could not ignore, somebody's child down on the ground. That was so heartbreaking for me."