Family of valley murder victim speaks out

In an exclusive interview with News Channel 3’s I-Team Reporter Karen Devine, the family of Makayla Massey, the young woman whose body was found on the side of the road near Coachella on June 25th, spoke out about her murder.

The man and woman accused in her death were in court today at the Larson Justice Center in Indio for a felony settlement conference. Massey’s mother, step-father, biological father and one of her 6 brothers make the early morning trip from Victorville to Indio to see Makayla’s accused killers for the first time.

Jennifer Gerrie, Makayla’s mom, wore a t-shrit with a picture of her daughter on it, saying it was a selfie taken by Makayla and it was her favorite photo of her daughter.

She tells Devine that she is heartbroken and that “Makayla wanted to be a pediatrician, she wanted to be an eye doctor, make up artist, dancer, singer.”

From a large mixed family with six boys, Makayla Massey was the middle child and the only girl. She loved to be the center of attention and was full of fun and love. But, according to her mother things started to change as she became a teenager.

“She needed help and we got her the most help as possible,” says Gerrie.

Makayla was diagnosed with bipolar and personality disorder and that came with it’s own set of problems. Still the family says they did everything in their power to help her.

“We started with school, then we moved to a physcologist, a great physcologist, we got into different programs to try and help her a lot of those programs bonded us even tighter as family. We were doing therapy together,” says Makayla’s step-father Derrik Gerrie.

But then, according to the family, child protective services stepped in and removed Makayla from the home. And, it’s within the past year that she went missing.

“This time when she was gone, I mean we searched everywhere, high and low, if we thought she would be there, we looked,” says Gerrie.

And then came the news, Makayla was found dead in the desert, along the side of a road in the middle of seemingly nowhere near Coachella.

For her family, it’s the call they never wanted to get and the saddness is apparent. Today, they choose to remember their daughter with the big smile and bigger than life personality.

Makayla’s spirit was so big, it couldn’t be trapped in a body and at the end of the day, god called her home,” says Gerrie.

The family says they will be at every court hearing for both of the accused, Alexis Daniel Rosas and Maury Duarte, to be silent support for Makayla.

There will be a celebration of life this weekend, the family has set up a go-fund-me account to help with expenses.