Girl, 7, asks Santa to bring her dad back after he was fatally shot just days before Christmas
DOUGLASVILLE, GEORGIA: A seven-year-old girl penned a heartbreaking letter to Santa Claus asking him to bring her father back after he was tragically killed just days before Christmas. Ex-marine Joshua Mitchell, 37, from Douglasville, Georgia, was shot and killed in his driveway after he arrived home from work on December 17 with several neighbors raising the alarm. The police are still investigating his death and are yet to find the shooter.
In the wake of the tragedy faced before Christmas, his youngest daughter, Sa'Raya did not appear to be interested in presents as she wrote a note to Santa asking for her father to come back. In the emotional letter, the 7-year-old politely asks Santa if she could reunite with her late father. She further told Santa in the note that someone has "hurt" him and that she wants "God to bring him back." The girl’s mother and Joshua's wife Nicoele spoke about the child’s heartbreaking pleas with Old Saint Nick to 11Alive on Wednesday, December 28.
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"The fact that it happened before Christmas will always be a conversation of 'when we lost daddy,'" Nicoele said. "'She said 'I'm good in school, I make good grades, can I please have my daddy back?'" She added, "I’m glad that that morning before he left off to work – we got to say those words to each other. So that will forever be in my brain – his kiss and I love you."
The girl’s tragic letter said, "Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is I want my dad back. I love my dad. Someone hurt my dad. I want God to bring him back. I'm getting good grades and I [am] good at school." The heartbreaking note concluded with her saying she and her father celebrate the same birthday and she did not want to celebrate hers without him.
Nicoele said that the family spent Christmas discussing their favorite memories with Joshua, who she described as "an honorable Marine and an entrepreneur, as well as a devoted husband and stepfather. He was the type of person that would give people an opportunity even off of the streets."
In addition to Sa'Raya, Joshua was also a father to two more daughters, Sa'Maya, 10, and Jaida, 12. While speaking about what she wants for Christmas, Nicoele asked for justice for her husband.
"On Saturday, December 17, 2022, at approximately 9:40 pm, several residents of Warrenton Drive called Paulding E-911 to report hearing gunshots in the neighborhood. When Deputies arrived in the area, they located Mitchell laying in the driveway beyond help," said a press release by Paulding County Sheriff's Office, as per Mirror.
