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Group Mourns Camp Counselor With 'Fun-Filled Spirit' Fatally Shot in Queens

By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska | August 18, 2017 6:16pm | Updated on August 21, 2017 8:49am
 Teriana Holcombe, 21, was fatally shot Tuesday night in St. Albans, sources said.  
Teriana Holcombe, 21, was fatally shot Tuesday night in St. Albans, sources said.  
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QUEENS — Member of a Queens day camp are mourning the death of its counselor, who was fatally shot in the head as part of an ongoing feud involving her friends and another group, her co-workers said.

Teriana Holcombe, 21, who for the past four years worked for Young People's Day Camp of Queens, was found with a gunshot wound to the head at the corner of 198th Street and Murdock Avenue in St. Albans, about 10 blocks away from where she lived, just before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials said.

She was later pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

James Corleto, the camp's executive assistant director, described Holcombe as “a bright, thoughtful and caring young woman loved by the campers, parents and staff fortunate enough to have met her.”

"She had a wonderful, fun-filled spirit which she shared generously with those around her," he added. “She will be missed tremendously.” 

The group shared the news of Holcombe's death on its Facebook page, triggering an outpouring of grief.

"Absolutely devastating ... She was such a lovely girl," one parent wrote. "What a loss to her family and to the YPDC family.” 

“She was my sons camp bus counselor this year. At my house every morning and afternoon until last week," another posted. "Sweet young lady! So sad! My prayers are with ypdc and her family.”

Holcombe worked for the group since 2013, first as a counselor and more recently as a division head, according to the camp. 

The group also posted that “arrangements are being made by her family” and that it was planning to post updates once they become available.

Police sources said the shooting was sparked by an ongoing dispute between two groups that have been fighting for years.

On Tuesday night, two of Holcombe's friends got into a fight with members of the other group outside a bodega, sources said.

Her friends left, but later returned with Holcombe, her boyfriend and others to resume the argument, when someone in the other group shot her, police sources said.

There had been no arrests as of Friday, and it wasn't clear what the feud was about, authorities said.

Police described the gunman as a heavy-set man in his 30s, who was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, black sneakers and red sweatpants.