Tyneisha Muse’s family called her “Pooh Bear": a nickname she earned from her small size as a baby, said her cousin Kayonna Muse. While the nickname stuck through her teenage years, the 17-year-old outgrew the cuddly characteristics associated with the yellow cartoon bear.
“She was a pitbull in a skirt,” Kayonna Muse said of her 17-year-old cousin, who was fatally shot in the Upper 9th Ward Friday (March 29). She remembered Tyneisha as an outgoing, feisty, well-liked girl who “didn’t bite her tongue for nobody.”
Kayonna Muse, 41, couldn’t believe her oldest daughter when she called Friday to tell her that Tyneisha Muse was killed while she was sitting in a car in the Upper 9th Ward.
“I just can’t believe it,” said Kayonna Muse, four days after the shooting. “I felt like a lost a child of myself.”
On Friday, police responded to the scene at the intersection of Congress and N. Prieur streets around 7 p.m. Tyneisha Muse was shot once in the back and rushed to the hospital, where she later died, authorities said.
An 18-year-old man – who Kayonna Muse said was Tyneisha’s boyfriend – was also injured in the shooting. His condition was not immediately known as of Monday (April 1), according to NOPD spokesman Aaron Looney.
“We don’t need this,” Kayonna Muse said of her family’s loss. “We don’t have that much family as it is.”
Tyneisha Muse, who Kayonna described as family-oriented, grew up in the Upper 9th Ward with her mother, Aiksha, her 22-year-old brother Joseph and 20-year-old sister Myesha. Tyneisha enjoyed spending time with her nieces and nephews, Kayonna Muse said, adding that Tyneisha and her 2-year-old nephew were “two peas in a pod.”
When the 17-year-old wasn’t studying at ReNew Accelerated High School in Uptown’s East Riverside community, she liked to sing and dance, Kayonna Muse said. Her cousin was often “the life of the party" and loved to attend second-lines.
Though the news of Tyneisha’s death came as a surprise, Kayonna Muse said she had warned her younger cousin and other girls in the family of the violence on the city’s streets.
“They know the violence out here is real. It is nothing to play with,” Kayonna Muse said. “We told [Tyneisha] to stay out of harm’s way. Use your head.”
At the scene of the shooting Friday, a witness said there were roughly 10 gunshots and then a dark-colored SUV drove away on North Prieur Street at a “very fast” speed. Nearby, several children were running around the playground area at Bunny Friend park.
Despite the gap in years between her and Tyneisha, Kayonna Muse said her little cousin wanted to protect her. She remembered how Tyneisha was always the first person to view her social media posts and often admired Kayonna’s work as a music promoter in the city.
“I’m going to miss her," she said.
1 killed in Upper 9th Ward double shooting: NOPD
via nola.comhttps://www.nola.com
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