ST. MARTINVILLE, La. (KLFY) -- A shooting Saturday night on Washington Street left the family of 18-year-old Javonté Anthony devastated.

Javonté's older sister, Shalasia Anthony, said she was at work when her aunt delivered the news about the shooting.

“I was just in disbelief seeing the name in that text, like, she said 'Buck.' That's my brother's nickname. So I'm like, what do you mean he got shot? So I called her because I was just in such disbelief. Did you type the wrong name or something? Cause not him,” Shalasia said.

She ran outside of her workplace, screaming and crying, Shalasia recalled. After informing her job, she headed straight to the scene where her brother was on Washington Street.

“I drove back home hastily, just kind of dizzy, crying. I couldn't drive. I got my significant other to drive so we can go to Saint Martinville, where my little brother was living and where the murder also happened,” she said.

But by the time she got there, her brother was already taken to a local hospital.

“I was praying and hoping the whole way there to God, like, please let him be okay. Because, you know, sometimes when people get shot, they can still survive depending on where they were shot and what was punctured,” she said.

Her brother died at the hospital from multiple gunshot wounds.

“They were saying he was gasping for air and squeezing and it's hard. Like I was thinking about how the last thing my little brother saw was paramedics and the ambulance [but] didn't get to see me," she said.

"He didn't get to see any of his family members and I just thought about how scared he might have been and I was just praying and hoping that he wasn't suffering but when I heard that it let me know that he was suffering and he did not deserve that at all. He did nothing to deserve that,” she continued.

Shalasia said the last time she saw her brother was at a funeral for another family member.

It wasn't until she arrived at the hospital that she learned her brother had died.

“My other aunt, she's said he's gone and I just started screaming again. I didn't even get to see him. We didn't even get to see him in the hospital,” she said.

“Our souls were just very, very burdened by this stuff. Like we all just feel so weak and empty right now. Like we can barely function. A lot of us, we're not even at work, like we're not even going to work how we're supposed to because we're handling this heavy burden that has been bestowed upon us," she continued.

Police released an image of a vehicle that witnesses said they saw driving away from the scene of the shooting immediately after the gunshots were heard by neighbors. Police Chief Ricky Martin said they are investigating several motives.

Shalasia said her older brother was in the shed on the property by the house he heard from outside the incident with Javonté and the suspects.

She believes two people were involved in Javonté's murder.

"They went to rob and kill him and my other brother, who was there he heard my little brother saying, 'Here, just take it, take it.' So he wasn't even putting up a fight like he was telling them, just take it and they decided to kill him anyway," she said.

Shalasia said there are reasons to believe the suspects are somebody who knew her younger brother.

“We know for a fact using our common sense, that this was somebody who knew him because of the fact that they wore a mask and it’s the fact that they could pinpoint that house that he was in, because the house is secluded. Like it's on our family property but it's a way in the back. You have to know us or him to go back there," she said.

Shalasia said it hurts her to know that somebody would do this to him, take him from his family.

“We really need justice for him. He did not deserve this. He was caught off guard at his own home on our family property. We've never even had anyone get hurt on our family property. Like our ancestors are turning in their graves right now for this baby because this is done on our own family property; that's so disrespectful and so evil," she said.

A message Shalasia wants the public to know:

“We all need to start valuing life more and we need to think about things. Anything, even if it's the smallest thing. Like just think before you do something and just think about is it worth it. Like is what I'm about to do in exchange for what I need or what this person has done. Is that the proper action that I need to take?” she said.

She said her brother was known to be stoic, but not in a bad way. He was quiet, friendly, funny, and fun to be around. He was goofy, silly, and liked to laugh. He had aspirations to work  offshore. The family set up a GoFundMe Account to help with funeral expenses.

His funeral is Aug. 23.

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