The Mowry family is in mourning as Tamera‘s 18-year-old niece Alaina Housely was among the 12 victims of the Borderline Bar massacre in Thousand Oaks, CA on Nov. 7. The former Sister Sister star’s 32-year-old brother Tahj had a message about the Pepperdine University student, sharing his words over a photo of her smiling face in an Instagram story. “I love you Alaina. You were so beautiful. So perfect. So special. You didn’t deserve this. No one does,” he began his emotional tribute.
“I’m going to miss you so much. Thank you everyone for their prayers and my heart goes out to all the other families that lost someone to this,” he added. Sadly, 11 other families are feeling the same pain right now of losing a loved one in the senseless massacre. It occurred during the bar’s weekly College Country Night where young people from neighboring schools like Pepperdine and Cal Lutheran University were simply out enjoying a night of country music and dancing. That was until around 11:25pm when former Marine Ian David Long entered the bar and began opening fire.
Alaina was a freshman studying English at Pepperdine and the niece of Tamera’s husband Adam Housely. She was beloved by the Mowry family and it was heartrenching in the early hours of Nov. 8 when the actress was on social media searching for information on Alaina’s whereabouts after not hearing from her following the mass shooting. Once she got word that her beloved niece was among the dead, Tamera took to Instagram with an emotional tribute to her beloved niece.
“Alaina. My sweet, sweet Alaina. My heart breaks. I’m still in disbelief. It’s not fair how you were taken and how soon you were taken from us. I was blessed to know you ever since you were 5. You stole my heart,” she wrote next to a photo of the smiling teen. “I will miss our inside jokes, us serenading at the piano. Thank you for being patient with me learning how to braid your hair, and I will never forget our duet singing the national anthem at Napa’s soccer game. I love you. I love you. I love you. You are gonna make one gorgeous angel. My heart and prayers are with every victim of this tragedy.”