‘She brought a lot of joy’: Hartford family and friends say goodbye to slain 12-year-old Se’Cret Pierce

Se’Cret Pierce was killed April 20 when she was shot in the head during a drive-by quadruple shooting in Hartford.

HARTFORD — Grief and love hung heavy in the air in the First Cathedral Church Friday, as many family, friends and community members came together to mourn and celebrate the life of 12-year-old Se’Cret Pierce.

Pierce was killed  April 20 when she was shot in the head during a drive-by quadruple shooting, according to police. She was an eighth-grade student at Milner Middle School in Hartford.

Family and friends spoke of their memories about Se’Cret during the remarks portion of the ceremony Friday. Some of the memories included Se’Cret being dubbed the “Cash App Queen,” as she loved to request $20 from relatives, her love for knitting and cinnamon rolls, and her enjoyment of getting her hair and nails done.

Cousin Shaquana Cannon shared her memories of Se’Cret — saying that she was full of light and joy.

“She could never do any wrong in my eyes. If there is one thing I know is she loved that cellphone and she loved Cash App. If you took too long to send it, the question mark was coming. Question mark, question mark, question mark,” Cannon said.

Cannon encouraged the youth who were in attendance to honor Se’Cret’s life and legacy by graduating from high school, as she would always tell Se’Cret that was what she expected for her to do someday.

Elected officials and some of the city’s mayoral candidates were also in attendance to offer their support to Se’Cret’s family and friends.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Friday they all mourn the loss of a beautiful young girl and told the family and friends that she lives on in them.

“We can be angry and heartbroken. We cannot be numb. We cannot allow that hate to be normalized. We cannot allow it to be a part of our life,” the state’s senior senator said.

“We have to react in the way that Janet Rice and Sam Saylor did, with strength and courage. Today, we need to pray, not just with our lips — but with our legs. Not just with our words, but our deeds,” Blumenthal said, referring to Se’Cret’s grandparents.

The grandparents lost Se’Cret’s father when she was 2, as her father, Shane Oliver, 20, was killed in 2012.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., lamented the death of Se’Cret and encouraged all to help end the violence in the city that took her life.

“She brought a lot of joy to the people that she touched, her family and her friends in this room, spilling over. People who have smiles on their faces, remembering how she made them feel in the good times,” Murphy said. “She also invested a lot of time, along with community members, in trying to make Hartford a more peaceful, more kind place. This is why we cannot accept this.”

But there’s work to be done, he said.

“We don’t need to accept this, but there are big things that we need to do and small things as well. And so we’re here today to celebrate her life. Her beautiful life,” Murphy said. “Think about all the brilliant things she could have done with the rest of her life, but we’re also here to commit ourselves to the work that needs to be done to make sure no child (dies this way).”

Mayor Luke Bronin said that, like many others in the sanctuary, he has attended too many funerals mourning the loss of life in the city.

“We don’t want to go (anymore). This is not the place to talk about all the things that we can do, other than to say and a part of what we can do is take that anger and that pain that everybody feels today and direct it into love. … And know that whatever it was that caused somebody to drive down that street to shoot a gun wasn’t worth a fraction of what Se’Cret was worth,” Bronin said. “Her life mattered and every single person’s life matters. Every young person’s life matters — we love you and this city loves you.”

Se’Cret’s grandfather, the Rev. Sam Saylor, shared a story involving Se’Cret asking him for money that he has been ruminating on for the past few weeks.

He said that not long ago, she called him asking for some money. After checking with her mother to see if she was on “good girl status” to get the money, he said that he would bring it to her.

When he finally gave her the money, he said Se’Cret told him that it took too long, so now it’s double what she had asked for.

Saylor said he asked her why it was double, and she said again that it took him too long and he owed her.

“That message is so profound and prophetic. We owe her. I owe her. And we’re going to double the effort because it is taking too long to stop this massacre from happening,” Saylor  said. “We owe you, young people, a better opportunity at life. … We owe you and the price has doubled.”

“It is a privilege that you grow old and not get shot down like a rabid dog in the midst of your prime and your dreams. A message to the older people out here, we cannot skip any longer. The price tag has grown higher and higher, as we owe young people a resolve, and a solution to this madness,” he said.

On the day Se’cret was shot, the Hartford Police Department received a ShotSpotter alert at about 8:42 p.m. on Huntington Street where responding officers found an 18-year-old man on the sidewalk who had been struck by gunfire and Se’cret, who was in a parked vehicle, according to Hartford police Lt. Aaron Boisvert.

Both were taken to a local hospital with injuries. The 12-year-old, identified by police as Se’Cret, was initially listed in critical condition. Se’Cret was pronounced dead at 7 a.m. on April 21. Her killer has not been charged in her death.