Todd Clausen

@ToddJClausen

Victoria Brooks and her mom, Christie, were found dead inside a Wellington Ave. home.

A Canisius College student home for Thanksgiving break and her mother were found dead Friday morning inside a Rochester home, according to family members.

Family members said Victoria Brooks, 18, and her mom, Christie Brooks, 35, who celebrated a birthday on Thanksgiving, were shot inside the home at 206 Wellington Ave.

"Nobody was expecting this,” said Jonathan Pugh of Rochester, Christie Brooks' brother-in-law. "It is such a shocker. It is crazy. They just said they found them dead this morning."

Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli provided few details in a morning briefing but said police received a call about 7:11 a.m. Friday after a family member found two females, one adult and one young adult, deceased at the Wellington Avenue address.

"At this time, we have very little information but we are investigating it as a homicide," he said. "We are at a very preliminary stage but at this time we have no reason to believe there’s any danger to anyone else or this neighborhood."

Police blocked off Wellington Avenue, between Frost Avenue and Kirkland Road, for several hours Friday morning during their investigation.

They also escorted several young children and teenagers out of the home to a nearby RTS bus. Pugh said Christie Brooks and her eight children lived at the residence.

He also said the family moved to Wellington Avenue about three months ago, after a home they lived in a few blocks away on Frost Avenue burned down.

Victoria Brooks graduated from Our Lady of Mercy High School earlier this year. Her diploma from the school was posted on her mother’s Facebook page.

"She was really smart. Really bright. Wanted to succeed in life, have a good life, go to college and make something out of herself," said Jon Pugh, her grandfather. "Something didn't go right."

Both Our Lady of Mercy and Canisius College said grief counselors will be made available to students, faculty and other members of their schools.

"We ask the entire Mercy community to pray for Victoria, her mother, and her family, including her sister, a current Mercy junior, Alexizandria," according to a letter from Our Lady of Mercy.

Counselors will be available from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Mercy's Motherhouse Chapel. Additional resources and support will be provided to Alexizandria's classmates on Monday, according to the statement from Mercy.

Victoria wrote a poem about two weeks ago for the Odyssey, an online publication.

"So I accepted bad things, but in a way that didn't make them feel bad," she wrote. "I turned the lonely to creativity and the sadness to ink. And I began to realize how beautiful life can be in the dark.

"But some days there aren't enough pages and I feel bad. Like somehow I'm letting the gift I gave to myself go to waste."

On Friday, social media filled with fond remembrances for the two women. Christie's Facebook page went from messages of birthday joy to roughly 100 posts of remorse and sadness.

"Words can't describe how sad (I) feel for your family," wrote Kimberly Igartua. "You were always a joy to see and talk to. Never changed, always the same person. Working hard always for your babies and being a great mom! Your beautiful daughter she was just starting her life! Praying for your family you will missed!"

No arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.

TCLAUSEN@Gannett.com

Gates police raising money for family

Victoria Brooks worked at the Dunkin' Donuts in Gates, 1482 Buffalo Rd. She encountered many Gates police officers on a daily basis."She will be truly missed by from Gates PD," Chief Jim VanBrederode said.

The department is collecting donations for her family and to help with funeral costs, VanBrederode said. The department is working with Gates Chili Community Connections to raise money.

Donations can be sent to the Gates Police Department at 1605 Buffalo Road, Rochester, New York, 14624 or can be left the the Dunkin' Donuts location.

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