VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – On the front lawn of a New Light community home, Zabre Miller’s loved ones proudly displayed a woven blanket that reveals the threads of Miller’s life that began on December 14, 1997, and ended on September 4, 2022.

“We are going to remember Zabre today for his compassion his love for his family his goofiness, his beautiful smile, and the baby that he has on the way,” his mother Alkivette Cooper said.

Cooper is not only hosting a memorial birthday party for Miller, but she is also planning a baby shower for Miller’s son, whose due date is February 11, 2023.

In the last hours of his life, Zabre Miller told his mother he was headed to a house party on Killam Ave. in Norfolk.

“We told each other we love each other and that was my last call with my son,” said Cooper.

Hours later, word quickly spread that a mass shooting occurred at the Killiam Avenue party. Miller’s mother rushed to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where loved ones were not allowed inside.

Photo Courtesy: Alkivette Cooper
Photo Courtesy: WAVY’s Regina Mobley
Photo Courtesy: Alkivette Cooper

Regina Mobley: How did you learn your son was dead?

Alkivette Cooper: It was a picture of him. He{ Miller] had cotton on his eyes and his eyes were taped shut.

Cooper says a Norfolk detective showed her the horrifying photo after reportedly saying he had bad news to share.

“I was stripped of everything. I was there and he[Miller] didn’t even know I was there. So where is the compassion?”

Cooper also provided 10 On Your Side with more disturbing details about the weapon used to kill her son.

“He was shot in the head and the shoulders with a rifle. That was on his death certificate,” said Cooper.

The September 4 mass shooting claimed the lives of Miller and Angelia McKnight, who was a pre-nursing student at Norfolk State University, and injured five others.

Shortly after the mass shooting, 10 on Your Side shared recordings of the barrage of gunfire that damaged the home used for the house party, neighboring homes, and nearby cars.

” It’s mind-boggling that kids are walking around with rifles. I don’t know what to think but I know that something needs to change,” Cooper said.