Daughter of murder victims turns to music

Philadelphia (WTXF) - If you look closely at the talented young lady lighting up the screen, during a performance by the R & B group Aviance on Wednesday's "Q" show on Fox 29, you'd have seen a 21-year-old who goes by the stage name of Miss Jayy.

Sadly, it was not the first time she had been on your TV.

"We just feel like we lost all we have, so, we just need help," said then-teenager Jessica Nunez to reporters in September of 2011, after she watched a pair of gunmen rob her parents' West Philadelphia grocery store and shoot her mother, father and aunt to death.

An exhaustive police investigation would lead-- months later-- to the arrest of two men; Ibrahim Muhammed and Nalik Scott.

And it would be several more years before the two would go to trial.

"It's been difficult," said Nunez in an exclusive interview following her "Q" performance. "We've been waiting for justice and done a lot of things to catch these guys and just learn the process of healing."

That process was aided by a community that rallied around Jessica and the rest of the surviving family members.

"Our neighbors, our family, our friends, and even people that don't even know us at all-- they were there to help and that was, like, the most amazing thing to us," said Nunez. "So we're all very grateful for that."

As the process played out, Jessica turned to her childhood love.

"I've been involved with music since I was 7," she said, "so, it was my way to grieve in life. Move on, to come back to music and doing it for my family-- especially for my dad, who loved music."

Just last week, Jessica took center stage at the Criminal Justice Center, testifying in court against Muhammed and Scott, identifying them as the gunmen who ended three lives and changed so many more.

And on Wednesday, the jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before finding Muhammed and Scott guilty of three counts of first degree murder.

After her Fox 29 performance, host Quincy Harris asked Jessica how a then-teenager copes with the violent death of her parents:

I'll say music. Definitely music, family, friends. And praying...a lot. A lot."

Those prayers have now been answered--at least to a small degree.

Her parents' killers now stand convicted of their crime.

As for her budding music career, Jessica and her group will perform Friday night, at a sold out TLA theater in Philadelphia.