While paying tribute to the lives lost during the Texas mass shooting, Niecy Nash opened up about losing her brother in a school shooting almost three decades earlier.
According to the LA Times, In February 1993, 17-year-old Michael Ensley, Nash’s brother, was shot in the chest “in a corridor of the school’s science building during a midmorning snack break” by Robert Heard, a 16-year-old a Reseda High football player and classmate.
Students carried Ensley to the nurse’s office before he was pronounced dead at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
Nash’s mother Margaret said, “You think you’re sending your child to a safe haven. I thought he’d be safe in the Valley.”
Heard was reportedly sent to a juvenile corrections facility and was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and sent to prison.
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Heard was arrested again for allegedly stabbing and killing his wife Demetra Doyle Heard in 2012.
Nash shared a photo on Instagram writing, “I’m so sad…my brother was killed on his high school campus. It hits different cuz school is a place you should feel safe. I don’t wish it on anyone.”
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Nash told TMZ, “No family should have to endure the loss of a loved one at the hands of a previously convicted violent criminal. I am deeply saddened to hear that the man who murdered my brother, Michael Ensley, has been charged with murder again.”
“I grieve for every family who has been victimized by this heinous individual. My prayers and love go out to the family of Demetra Doyle Heard during this trying time,” she continued.
In 2018, Nash shared a story of her brother’s death following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school shooting.
She tweeted, “25 yrs ago today, my only brother, Michael Ensley, was killed on his high school campus by kid with a gun. It’s 2018 and the death toll is rising while our spirits are still breaking. You don’t hear the pain. You hear the sound of NRA [money] being exchanged. #NeverAgain.”
25 yrs ago today, my only brother, Michael Ensley was killed on his high school campus by kid with a gun. It’s 2018 and the death toll is rising while our spirits are still breaking. You don’t hear the pain. You hear the sound of NRA?being exchanged. ?#NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/O5LNHCzqwd
— Niecy Nash (@NiecyNash) February 22, 2018
Prayers up to the families who are reminded of those they lost during school shooting tragedies.
