On September 12, 2024, 25-year-old Jalen Amari Whitlock-Easterling was shot and killed at her Houston townhome on Locksley Road during a birthday celebration for her 6-year-old child. Witnesses say a 27-year-old man identified as Jalin J. Foreman — the father of Whitlock-Easterling’s two children — arrived uninvited around 8:35 p.m., began yelling, then retrieved a firearm from his white Chevrolet Tahoe and fired multiple shots into the residence.

Whitlock-Easterling was struck near the front door; her two young daughters, ages six and four, plus other family members were in the home but were not physically harmed. Foreman fled the scene; a warrant for murder was issued and he turned himself in on September 16, 2024, and was booked into the Harris County Jail. Family members describe Whitlock-Easterling as a devoted mother, and a GoFundMe was set up to help her children.

What can readers who knew Jalen or her family share about her life or about tensions leading up to that night?