Deja Reaves was killed while attending a party near North Carolina A&T in Greensboro. Her parents spoke about their unimaginable loss.
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"This is the worst feeling in the world," said her father, Jeremiah Frazier. "This shouldn't happen to anyone."
It's a parent's worst nightmare: Frazier and LaTroya Reaves sent their 18-year-old daughter off to college, and months into her freshman year, the unimaginable happens.
"It's just a moment you really can't put into words," Deja's mother said. "I couldn't breathe."
Deja, a Chicago native, was killed in a shooting near North Carolina A&T State University's campus last Tuesday night.
"It's crazy because we get her out of Chicago," Frazier said, "and you send your child away, to find out she couldn't escape it."
"Your children should be safe when they're celebrating anything at school, on campus, nearby campus," Reaves said. "They are where they're supposed to be. They're not at the wrong place at the wrong time."
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An honors student with big dreams, her parents said Deja sang, played guitar, and always tried to lift people's spirits.
"You knew when she wasn't in the room, you wanted her to be," Frazier said.
The oldest of seven siblings, Deja graduated from Ogden International School in Chicago. Her parents are now calling for more security around college campuses so other parents don't have to go through what they are.
"If we can change even something small, like having security and presence, and have parameters where students are," Reaves said.
"I think this should hit home that you've affected not just one home, but it affected this entire world," Frazier said.