Homicide investigation underway after 15-year-old girl found dead in South Lowell apartment – ​​Boston Herald

A murder investigation is underway in Lowell after 15-year-old Ahliana Dickey was found dead in her apartment at 1171 Lawrence Street on June 14, 2024. Pictured from left: Dickey’s aunt Miranda Wetherbee comforts her sister and Dickey’s stepmother Stephanie Wetherbee outside the Lawrence Street apartment on June 15, 2024. (Aaron Curtis/Lowell Sun)

LOWELL — The front steps of 1171 Lawrence Street were decorated with flowers Saturday afternoon in memory of the 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed in the first-floor apartment.

A family member found the deceased teenager, who was identified by her relatives as Ahliana Dickey, shortly after 6 p.m. on Friday.

Authorities announced the gruesome discovery on Saturday afternoon. The murder investigation is “currently in full swing,” the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Lowell Police said in a joint press release.

Overwhelmed by grief and fighting back tears, members of Dickey’s family gathered outside the apartment on Saturday.

“She was full of life,” said Dickey’s aunt Miranda Wetherbee. “She was a beautiful flower.”

The teenager’s father, Scott Dickey, said his daughter, a Lowell Public Schools student, was supposed to graduate from eighth grade the day she was found dead.

“She was a beautiful soul,” he said. “She would have been a freshman in high school.”

Ahliana Dickey’s stepmother, Stephanie Wetherbee, was comforted by Miranda Wetherbee as she spoke about the teenager.

“She was 15 years old,” she said, becoming increasingly emotional. “A beautiful girl. A young woman, not even blossoming yet. Her whole life was ahead of her and someone took her from us. All of us.”

The family said Scott Dickey tried to reach his daughter by phone on Friday after learning she was absent from school. Unable to reach Ahliana Dickey, he reached out to a family member who lived nearby so they could come over and check on the girl.

Authorities said the family member who found the victim noted “traumatic injuries” on the girl’s body. When police arrived at the scene, they found the teen with apparent gunshot wounds. Several bullet casings were also found.

Later that night, investigators received a search warrant for the apartment.

Although no arrests were made, Ahliana Dickey’s family said they were looking for a prime suspect.

“One thing about the Commonwealth is that they fail a lot of people, but we just pray and hope that justice is served,” Miranda Wetherbee said. “It needs to be done.”

The family said they were told by neighbors that they heard an argument and possibly gunshots in the area around midnight Friday.

A man who lived nearby and wished to remain anonymous told The Sun that his son also heard what he thought were gunshots at the time. Shortly afterward, he saw police patrolling the intersection of Lawrence and Woburn Streets, near 1171 Lawrence Street.

Reports of a fight between a man and a woman outside in the area – reported by a neighbor – came on an emergency radio broadcast around 12:15 a.m. Friday. Police responded, but the outcome of the call is unclear based on the broadcast.

The neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said gunfire is unheard of in that part of South Lowell, noting that he has lived in the area most of his life.

“I hate to see someone’s child taken away like this,” he added.

The investigation is being conducted by the Lowell Police Department, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and the Criminal Investigation Division of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis