Family grieving 23-year-old Surrey shooting victim launches GoFundMe for funeral costs

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — A grieving family has set up an online fundraiser for a young woman who was killed in Surrey last week hoping to raise enough to pay for her funeral.

Police have not identified the woman killed in Thursday’s shooting, but a GoFundMe set up by the family of Shana Harris-Morris names the 23-year-old as the victim.

Ryan Morris, Shana’s uncle, says his niece was a funny young woman with a good heart and a “beautiful soul.”

But he also says she struggled.

“She had a very troubled life,” he says.

“We’re still just trying to wrap our heads around the whole thing. It just doesn’t seem real.”

Morris says Shana’s death — one of a number of fatal shootings in the Lower Mainland in recent weeks — is a devastating example of the “collateral damage” of drug and gang conflict.

“You hear about it on the news all the time, and I guess, to a certain degree become quite desensitized to it because it happens so frequently. But then you get that call, and it just becomes real,” he says.

“We’ve all taken this really hard. It just kind of raises the question as to what’s going to be done to stop what’s going on. There’s innocent people getting killed because of this drug thing. It’s not just the overdoses we have to worry about.”

Morris says his niece died in hospital, and the family is grateful to all the staff who cared for her in her final moments.

“They really struggled to keep her alive and she fought, and unfortunately. She didn’t make it.”

The GoFundMe has been set up to pay for Shana’s funeral, and her gravestone.

“Having a service is is quite expensive and Shana’s family isn’t in the best financial position,” he says.

Morris hopes it will also raise enough money to pay for a memorial bench in Chilliwack, where Shana’s parents and siblings live.

“It would be nice to have a little place out here, a little special place that we can go to just be with Shana and our thoughts of her.”