A promising teenage girl was killed by her ex-boyfriend who took his own life weeks later as his haunting family history emerged. Jada Sellers, 17, was mercilessly gunned down by 18-year-old Christian Hursey, who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after police executed a search warrant on his Maryland home. Sellers was shot shortly after midnight on July 31 in the 700 block of Lyndhurst Street, according to court documents as per CBS. She was found with gunshot wounds to her throat and abdomen and rushed to hospital in critical condition. She remained in the hospital for nearly two weeks before dying from her injuries surrounded by her loved ones. Surveillance footage obtained by investigators showed Sellers speaking with a man outside the home. When she attempted to leave through a gate, the male suspect allegedly opened fire. Witnesses and people who knew Sellers later identified the suspect as her former boyfriend Christian Hursey. Police then identified Hursey as their prime suspect and moved in on his Baltimore County home at around 8.30pm on August 20, intending to serve a search warrant.

However, when the Baltimore Police and SWAT team arrived, police said they heard a single gunshot before finding Hursey dead at the scene. Now, as Sellers’s devastated family prepares to lay her to rest, haunting details have emerged that shattered Hursey’s own family years earlier. Investigators began looking into the 18-year-old's past and found that Hursey's childhood had been marred with shocking acts of domestic violence. Hursey’s father, Dominick Hursey, killed his mother Chinika in April 2017 when Hursey was just four years old. Court records show Chinika had repeatedly sought protective orders against her husband and had warned authorities that she feared he would kill her.

'Chinika wrote that she was afraid of the defendant and was afraid he was going to kill her,' veteran Baltimore County prosecutor Robin Coffin wrote in 2018. One order reviewed by investigators dated back to 2009 and required Dominick to stay away from the same address where his son would later die. '[Defendant] threatened to break petitioner's face while she was at work. Severe incidents of domestic violence,' the protective order stated, according to CBS. The documents describe allegations of severe domestic violence.

In another incident, Chinika said Dominick grabbed her by the arm, twisted it and then put one hand around her neck, pinning her against a car, as per court documents. As people intervened, she said he threatened: 'I’m going to kill you.' He later did. According to court records, in the early hours of April 3, 2017, Dominick was captured on surveillance video breaking through a window at Chinika’s home while wearing a hockey mask. He shot her three times in the back of the head as she slept. He then shot her boyfriend, Steven Campbell, 12 times, killing him.

Records show Dominick attempted to cover up the killings and even tried to shift blame onto one of his children, claiming he went into 'Daddy Mode' hiding the bullet casings. Prosecutor Robin Coffin called it 'a cold-blooded execution of two people' that left seven children orphaned. Dominick was then convicted and remains behind bars. Now, experts say the latest tragedy raises painful questions about the long shadow violence can cast over children who grow up surrounded by it. Adam Rosenberg, executive director of LifeBridge Health’s Center for Hope, said to CBS exposure to violence can increase the risk of someone later becoming either a victim or perpetrator.

'It’s horrific that this child who lost his own mother to gun violence is now repeating the cycle himself,' he said. Sellers's loved ones will gather for her viewing on Friday before her funeral on Saturday. The honors student was preparing to begin her senior year at Milford Mill Academy when her life was suddenly cut short. She was a scholar, a leader and an active member of her school community, serving as vice president of the Student Government Association with a passion for dance and cheer.

'Of course, our hearts are heavy, but what’s most important is the impact that she’s had on all of us,' said Kyra Hamond, one of Sellers's teachers. 'We remember her as a strong individual, a beautiful individual.' But for Sellers' family, the tragedy is made even more painful by the fact that Hursey was not a stranger. He was someone her family had welcomed into their home. 'Not only did we know him, but he sat at the table eating meals with our family,' Sellers's cousin Heber Brown III said. 'We know of his family and some of the challenges that they faced. And so, it’s a different kind of grief.

It’s a different kind of burden and the weight that comes with this situation.” Brown said Sellers whole-heartedly believed Hursey was her friend. 'Jada thought he was a real friend,' he said. 'He ultimately was not.' Sellers's family is now determined that her story will not simply become another headline. They want her death to help raise awareness about violence against women and girls – and to remind other families that no one should have to endure what theirs has endured. 'We’ve seen a number of very high-profile situations like this,' Brown previously said. 'And our heart has been breaking as a family for other families who’ve been going through this, not knowing that this would knock on our door.'