DATE: Wednesday, June 11, 1997              TAG: 9706110425

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER and VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:  100 lines

KEEPSAKES WERE DAUGHTER'S LAST ``GIFT'' SLAIN GIRL COLLECTED HER LIFE'S TREASURES SHORTLY BEFORE SHE WAS SHOT SUNDAY.

Daphlyn Johnson White carefully fingered four shiny, blue ribbons in a black shoe box. She removed two dried red roses, handwritten letters, color photographs, old concert notes, a plastic necklace and a box of Valentine's Day candy.

Mementoes of her daughter's too-short life.

They were keepsakes Eboni Johnson, a 13-year-old honor student at Hunt-Mapp Middle School, had packed neatly together hours before she was fatally shot Sunday night.

``I think she was making this box for me,'' White said through tears Tuesday, looking at a color photograph of her beaming daughter.

``She said, `I've got everything in this box.' She worked on that box Saturday and Sunday . . . and put it under her grandmother's bed,'' White said, sitting in the kitchen of her Brighton home.

White, struggling to contain her grief, was surrounded by family members, neighbors and supporters. They all wanted to know why the girl had become the city's 11th homicide victim of the year, shot to death by a stranger who came to the door Sunday night and fired two shots when Eboni went to the door. Two bullets pierced the door and struck her.

``I thank God I had these 13 years to enjoy with her,'' White said. ``I loved her so much, and I know she loved me.''

Eboni died Monday evening with her family beside her hospital bed.

One of the visitors to White's home Tuesday was Portsmouth Schools Superintendent Richard D. Trumble.

``I don't know what the details were, but if it was that random . . . I don't know what we can do,'' Trumble said.

``I just stopped by to express our condolences. We hate to lose a student. Even though I didn't know her, she's still part of the Portsmouth family.''

At Hunt-Mapp Middle School, as part of Tuesday's morning announcements, students observed a moment of silence in memory of Eboni. Friends described her as easygoing, playful and fond of jumping double-dutch and talking on the phone.

``I kept saying to myself today, so I wouldn't cry, `She's in a better place now,' '' said Antiya Sutton, a Hunt-Mapp eighth-grader and one of Eboni's friends. ``But right now, it's just sad to see someone that age die like that, for no reason at all.''

Before Eboni died, classmates had sent her a large purple ``Get Well Soon'' card.

One student wrote: ``You are a very cool person and a true friend. I really miss you.''

Another wrote: ``I hope you get better so so I can see your big smile again.''

As White sat in the kitchen reading sympathy cards, greeting clergy and answering telephone calls from as far away as California, a dent at the bottom of the kitchen door served as a painful reminder of Eboni's slaying.

Eboni was wearing pajamas when she went to answer the door. She was shot in the face and chest through the wooden door, White said. According to family members, at least three shots were fired, shattering the door's glass panes. One bullet traveled through the house, gouging a path on a hallway wall after leaving a hole the width of a pinkie in the front door.

``Eboni probably thought it was her brother coming in,'' White said.

Police had made no arrests Tuesday and have released few details about the shooting, except that the killer may have fled on a motorcycle. Other police sources speculated that the attacker - or attackers - may have shot Eboni by mistake after showing up at the wrong house.

A neighbor reported that she saw a man on a motorcycle park in front of the house, walk up the steps, open the outer, storm door and begin shooting.

When the shooting occurred, White said, she ran downstairs to see if everyone was OK and saw Eboni lying on the floor behind the front door. She went to check on her mother, who was in a nearby room, then returned to the hallway, where Eboni lay motionless.

``I said, `My daughter's been shot!' ''

Doctors at the hospital said one bullet entered her face, then traveled to her throat area and lodged in the spinal cord at the base of her neck.

Twice, doctors resuscitated Eboni after her heart stopped beating for about five minutes each time.

``I was trusting in the Lord,'' White said tearfully. ``I believed in Him and trusted in Him . . . even when they told me she had died.''

Had Eboni survived, she would have been paralyzed, White said. ``She would not have accepted living like that. She was too active . . . smart, pleasant.''

White described the relationship she had with her only daughter as special.

Last Friday, Eboni brought her mother a piece of strawberry cake she had made in school. For Mother's Day, she brought her a pillow she'd sewn. And just a few hours before the shooting, as White cooked dinner, she and Eboni had talked about cooking in their small kitchen.

``The last thing she said to me was, `Man, I've got to hurry up and finish school so I can get you a bigger kitchen.' ''

A community group is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

White said the family will need help paying for a funeral. She just started a new job and has insurance, but it does not begin until next week and will not cover Eboni's burial. Those who want to help can mail contributions to Daphlyn J. White, 2220 Peach St., Portsmouth, Va. 23704. MEMO: Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact

Detective Bond at 393-8536 or Crime Line at 488-7777. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Eboni Johnson KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu