Tatianna Harrison is being threatened by the true triggerman, her mother claims.
CAMDEN -- Posing for pictures with her mother and brother, taking "selfies" in a mirror and getting ready for cheerleading practice -- on the outside, Tatianna Harrison had the life of any other 17-year-old girl from South Jersey.
So how does that image, seen on the teen's social media accounts, fit into the picture painted by Camden County law enforcement who have since charged Harrison with murder for her alleged role in a 2015 gangland slaying?
"... she did not do it. Find the shooter [who is] threatening my child," Harrison's mother, Tawanna Burrell, told NJ Advance Media in an email on Friday.
Posted by Tati Harrison on Sunday, December 23, 2012
Harrison, 17, of Berlin Borough, was waived up to adult court earlier this week and held on $750,000 bail after being arraigned on first-degree murder charges. According to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, the teen shot and killed 21-year-old Pennsauken man Vincent T. Bland during the early morning hours of Aug. 24, 2015.
Camden metro found Bland's body in a lot near South 5th and Benson streets about five hours after the shooting was picked up by the police department's ShotSpotter system.
What's more, Camden County prosecutors argued in court that Harrison, accompanied by her mother, came to the Berlin police less than two weeks after the shooting, waived her Miranda rights and gave Berlin police a "long, complete, detailed confession" about the shooting.
Burrell could not be reached Friday for additional comment, although she did challenge the charges against her daughter.
Harrison's lawyer, Megan Davies, said Thursday that surveillance video from the night of the incident doesn't show the actual shooting nor any "real interaction" between Harrison and Bland.
So what does the video show?
"Juveniles or young people hanging out in the area," said Davies, who noted in court that others present that night had both alleged gang ties and more of a motive to shoot Bland than her client did. The victim's family did not wish to speak with reporters at Monday's arraignment.
Asked about the video, a prosecutor's office spokesman said it is a criminal investigatory record and could not be released via an Open Public Records Act request.
Characterizing the case as "weak," Davies said in court that no weapon was ever recovered and no witnesses to the shooting have been identified.
"We cannot compromise the integrity of the investigation or future court proceedings by releasing additional information at this time," spokesman Andy McNeil added.
In court, Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Moran listed the litany of juvenile offenses against Harrison. Asked about her client in general and the infractions, ranging from false public alarm to terroristic threats, Davies said those records were sealed and she could not comment on them.
Harrison's remaining social media accounts -- a Facebook page last publicly updated in late July and a Google Plus page that contains videos dating back to Sept. 2013 -- appear to tell another part of the story.
Posted by Tati Harrison on Thursday, July 16, 2015
According to her Facebook page, Harrison began attended classes at Bankbridge Regional School -- which caters to students "whose special needs cannot be adequately addressed in their local school districts," per its website -- in 2013.
Bankbridge officials could not immediately confirm attendance. It's not clear where she attended school before; Camden County Technical Schools said they had no records showing anyone by Harrison's name went there and Berlin Borough's school district did not respond to a request for comment.
In an August 2013 video, she's seen getting her hair braided while smoking what appears to be a marijuana blunt and holding up a Crips gang sign. Davies declined to comment on said videos.
Some of her last public Facebook posts show her with a fresh tattoo across the stomach and an updated Grape Street Crips-themed cover photo that reads in part, "we are taught to survive under pressure."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.