Family holds vigil in honor of woman slain in 2011 murder

PRICHARD, Ala. (WALA) - The Fourth of July holiday is a painful reminder for a Prichard family who is mourning the loss of a loved one by holding a vigil Wednesday night.

Independence Day is a time for celebration for most people, but Dallas Smith is still hurting. Smith is holding a vigil at 8 p.m. at 4600 Old C itronelle Highway for her sister who died last year.

Smith said everyone is invited and she hopes the vigil on her front lawn will send a message.

"We want the community to know and the police department down there in Prichard, that we haven't forgot about her, and we will never forget about her, and the person that did this we know that you're out there, and I  believe that somebody else knows about it," she said.

It was exactly one year ago that 35-year-old Loletha Dukes was killed when someone fired into her house — the shooter is still on the loose.

"It's been heartbreaking," Smith said. "So even as much as we try to move on with our lives we're still reminded every  day, because she lived right across the street. We did everything together, that was my sister," Smith said.

Dukes was in her teenage daughter's room when a bullet came through the window.

"She was at home getting ready to celebrate the fourth.  She was with her children. Her daughter was doing her hair, and this person just came and took her life away from her," Smith said.

Since the murder, there have been no arrests. Dukes said that, at first, it appeared the police were working diligently on the case.

"They were aggressively trying to find who did this and then, all of a sudden, we heard nothing," she said.

Smith said the family still wants justice.

"For somebody to come a do something so horrible... she was defenseless.  What type of person shoots into a house with a woman and house full of children? Who does that?" Smith said. "She didn't have a chance."