Fifteen-year-old Kashmier Lujan-Taylor was looking forward to next week, when she’d turn 16 and attend her prom at the Academy of Urban Learning in Denver.

Instead of celebrating with her, Kashmier’s family and friends are in mourning after the girl was killed by a gunshot Wednesday as she slept in the front room of her family’s home in the Westwood neighborhood.

“She was really loved by students and staff alike,” said her principal, Michelle Kennard. “She was a joy to have on campus.”

It is the second time in less than a year that gunfire has led to tragedy for the family.

In June, Kashmier’s younger brother, Anthony Hemmings, 10, was killed by a gunshot in their previous home — an apartment in Aurora — while he and an older brother were handling a gun.

Shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, Kashmier, three siblings, her mother and her uncle were asleep when multiple shots were fired at the family’s front door in one of four row homes in the 4200 block of West Dakota Avenue.

“I watched my niece die in my arms,” said Joseph Lujan, the girl’s uncle. “She was a sweet girl. If I talk about it too much, I’ll cry.”

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Police have not identified any suspects or a motive in the shooting, said Raquel Lopez, a Denver police spokeswoman.

At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Denver Police Department Commander Barb Archer said police believe the house was targeted. Someone else in the house easily could have been hit because so many bullets were fired, she said.

There appeared to be 17 bullet holes around the front door and window of the small apartment. Bullets also hit the adjacent row home and a house behind the row homes.

Neighbor Sue Bernhard, 33, was sleeping with her husband and three children when the shooting occurred. They didn’t realize it happened until her husband left for work Wednesday morning. The death rattled the couple, who also have teenagers.

“It hurts,” said Bernhard, whose family had left a bouquet of roses on Kashmier’s back steps.

A Westwood church is holding a community safe haven through Saturday where people can gather to talk about the death and receive counseling if needed. The event is open to all community members from 3 to 9 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, according to a flyer from Grace and Life Church, 4201 W. Kentucky Ave.

At school, Kashmier enrolled in August as a sophomore and was on track to graduate in the class of 2019, Kennard said. The girl, who would’ve turned 16 next Wednesday, was a hard-working student, never had a bad thing to say about anyone and was conscientious about completing her schoolwork.

The school had set up a boutique where girls could pick out free prom dresses, and Kashmier had been looking at them in anticipation of the event.

“She was so excited about prom,” Kennard said.

Denver Public Schools sent crisis counselors to the academy Wednesday, and students held a balloon release in Kashmier’s honor, she said.

Kashmier had transferred to the school, which provides secondary education to students who are struggling in traditional high schools, after her younger brother’s death.

“She really blossomed with us,” Kennard said. “She was really, really starting to open up into such a mature, thoughtful young woman.”

After her brother’s death, an older brother, Jalecc Calanzo Taylor, pleaded guilty to negligent child abuse and was sentenced to two years of juvenile intensive supervised probation.

Police are asking the public to assist in the investigation. Anyone with tips should call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.