The other two victims, who were male, suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.
As of Tuesday, no arrests have been made, police said.
Lewis was a Malden High School senior who loved fashion, the beach, and having her photo taken, her mother, Rehema Grayson, told the Globe in a telephone interview Tuesday evening.
“That’s my best friend, and they stole her from me,” Grayson, 34, said. “Her school is hurting, our family is hurting, I’m hurting.”
Lewis leaves behind two younger sisters, 7 and 15, who “are hurting and confused,” their mother said.
The night Lewis was shot, she was hanging out with her boyfriend and other friends, Grayson said. A bullet went through Lewis’s arm, grazed her heart, and lodged in her head, she said.
“They were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Grayson said.
For 30 days, Grayson said she clung to faith, but her daughter “wasn’t able to recover from the gunshot wound to the head. After Lewis was taken off of life support, Grayson held Lewis’s hand until the end. Lewis lived and breathed on her own for two more hours, Grayson said.
“I stayed with my daughter until she took her last breath,” she said.
In death, Lewis “saved three lives,” her mother said. Lewis’s organs were donated to a 60-year-old woman and two men in their 40s.
“I’m trying to find something good to come out of this,” Grayson said. “I want her to be remembered as ‘G’Kiyah Lewis Strong,’ not as a victim. I want G’Kiyah to live on.”
Grayson’s words of advice to other parents of teens?
“Always pray over your kids, tell them you love them when they walk out that door,” she said.
Lewis’s death is the 29th homicide of the year compared to 21 at this time in 2024, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Boston Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470. Information can also be sent anonymously by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting “TIP” to CRIME (27463). Photos and videos can also be submitted anonymously online at https://police.boston.gov/crimestoppers.
Emily Sweeney can be reached at emily.sweeney@globe.com. Follow her @emilysweeney and on Instagram @emilysweeney22. Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
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