Birthday party Anyway

The family of Shakeylia Marie Anderson plan to observe the upcoming birthday of the Gulfport teenager, who would have turned 18 years old on Jan. 30. 

"We're having the party anyway," mother Sandra Anderson told reporter Robin Fitzgerald at www.sunherald.com. 

Anderson, 17 at the time of her death in early December 2008, was a student at Harrison Central High School, where she participated in ROTC. 

Harrison County prosecutors charged Leslie Galloway III, 25, of Moss Point with capital murder, underscored by rape and arson. A preliminary hearing Jan. 23 presented details of Anderson's death, including evidence linking Galloway to the murder. Judge Robin A. Metcalfe sent the case to a grand jury. 

Law enforcement accused Galloway of raping Anderson, who was said to have been his girlfriend, burning her body and causing her death by running over the teenager several times with a vehicle. A Ford Taurus belonging to Galloway's mother was used, according to media reports. 

SunHerald.com reported that Galloway claimed two other males committed the crimes against Anderson after forcing the couple to leave a park. Law enforcement believe Galloway is the culprit.

Hunters discovered Shakeylia Anderson's body Dec. 6 in a wooded area off Mississippi 15.

Shakeylia Marie Anderson

UPDATE: June 21, 2009

In our comment section, Sandra Anderson, mother of Sha'keylia, disputes reports by officials that the man -- Leslie Galloway -- accused of causing her daughter's death was a boyfriend.

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UPDATE: Feb. 1, 2009

Sha'keylia turned 18 years old Jan. 30, 2009. Recently her family, particularly her mother, promised to celebrate her daughter's birthday just as Sha'keylia had planned. The teenager was born in 1991.

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GULFPORT -- Family, friends and the South Mississippi community were shocked by the brutal death of 17-year-old Shakeylia Anderson on Dec. 5.

Hunters discovered Anderson's nude body Dec. 6 in woods near Mississippi 15. Law officials said she had been repeatedly raped, run over by a vehicle several times, and her body set on fire. The officials suspected her former boyfriend, Leslie Galloway III of Moss Point.

Shakeylia was a senior at Harrison Central High, where she had been a member of the school's Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC).