Funeral, balloon release planned for shooting victim Tootie Roberts

Family, friends and classmates of 14-year-old Ta'shuntis "Tootie" Roberts will celebrate her life and mourn her death this week as investigators continue work to find the two men linked to Sunday night's drive-by shooting that took her life.

Tootie, a freshman in the color guard at Southwest High School, was watching a movie in her living room with her two older brothers and some friends that evening when more than two dozen bullets were fired into the house on Lindwood Drive in Macon's Bloomfield neighborhood, the Bibb County Sheriff's Office said. Tootie was shot several times and died in a hospital operating room hours later.

Sheriff's officials said Wednesday there were no new developments in the case.

A memorial service is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Harvest Cathedral in Macon, said Tootie's mom, Tonora Jones.

"I've had a lot of support," Jones said. "I just know the police are doing their job, so I'll just leave it in the hands of the law."

At 2:30 p.m. Friday, the Southwest High School band and some freshmen will release balloons in remembrance of Tootie. The balloon release is not open to the public.

On Monday, the day after the killing, the halls were quiet at the school, band director Dominique Lane said.

"I contemplated not coming to work on Monday," Lane said. "But I decided it would be best for me to show up for the kids, show strength for them and let them know I'm here for them."

A school-wide announcement called 100 band members and some freshman classes to the auditorium, where counsellors were available to grieving students, Lane said.

"We pretty much knew and assumed that the biggest impact that she had was with the band," Lane said. "Just as much time as the students spend together, I spend that much time with them. So, we do become a family. I do look at them as my children. ... To watch them and see the hurt on their faces, that's the thing that bothered me the most. It was just heartbreaking."

Students huddled together, hugging each other and sharing positive stories about Tootie, Lane said. Other students at the school have died during his eight years of working there, but Lane said Tootie is the first band member to die.

"This time it hit home," Lane said. "Unfortunately, in the city of Macon, we've seen this entirely too much. Just at Southwest High School we've seen this entirely too much. At what point will there be a change and we won't have to wake up and find out that one of our students isn't going to be here anymore?"

Randy Pate Green, also a freshman at the school, was Tootie's first boyfriend. Though they started dating May 31, a few days after her birthday, Green said he'd been trying to court Tootie since the sixth grade.

"She was so shy that she wouldn't talk at all when I first tried to make conversation," he said.

Finally, at a basketball game earlier this year, Green said he met Tootie's mom, an introduction that got his crush to talk to him.

"Tootie had the biggest smile on her face," Green recalled. "She said, 'Man, Randy! Why you talking to my mom?' ... From that day on I didn't go one day without hugging her when I (saw) her. She was so short compared to me. ... Tootie was my angel."

Sunday afternoon, Green said he was waiting for a ride to Tootie's house, but his phone died so he couldn't respond to her message.

"Then, one hour later, I opened my phone to her brother's message (which said) 'My sister has been shot,'" Green said. "I rushed to call and got information (on) where she was located. I then rushed to the hospital. ... I loved Tootie and I was her first and last boyfriend. I still do."

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Funeral, balloon release planned for shooting victim Tootie Roberts ."