‘In cold blood’: Mother wants to set record straight over daughter’s killing

CHARLOTTE — A mother in Charlotte says she wants to set the record straight a year after a woman killed her daughter.

Prosecutors say 25-year-old Tyra Crosby was shot and killed at a home on Porter Street last July. Another woman was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the case, and she’s due in court later this week.

Channel 9 Crime Reporter Hunter Sáenz spoke to Tanya Hoskins about her daughter’s death. She’s pleading for justice, saying this case is not what people may think.

“We spent hours on the phone, just talking,” Hoskins told Sáenz, recalling the time she spent with Tyra.

It’s hard for Hoskins to get into the Christmas spirit knowing that her daughter’s spirit is all she has left to hold on to.

“Around the holidays, it’s really hard,” Hoskins said.

Hoskins said Tyra was a woman who loved fashion and even started her own clothing line.

“She was so spontaneous, always caring, so loving to me, and I missed that about her,” Hoskins said.

‘No remorse’

Hoskins said her daughter went to a man’s home that fateful night last July, not knowing that he had a wife.

That wife was Stephanie Alexander, who lived at the home too. Police say Alexander walked in and shot and killed Crosby.

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“This lady killed her in cold blood with no remorse,” Hoskins said.

Hoskins told Sáenz she just can’t understand why, and she said her daughter would have never gone to that house uninvited.

“The man invited her there, she didn’t break and enter, she didn’t just come unannounced,” Hoskins said. “I can’t see how she would take an innocent child’s life, instead of allowing her to leave her home, because at that point, the man brought her there.”

On Thursday, Alexander will be arraigned on a second-degree murder charge, according to court records.

Crosby’s mother hopes the court will hear all sides as she fights for her late daughter.

“When strong is all you know, you have to keep going,” Hoskins said.

That strength has gotten Hoskins through a lot. She told Sáenz this is her third child she’s lost to tragedy -- one died in an accident, and now two of her children have died by gun violence.

We reached out to Alexander’s attorney for comment, but we haven’t heard back.

If you’re experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Call 1-800-799-SAFE(7233) or visit this website.

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