NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Nine days after 26-year-old Jwanta Scarbor, a mother of three, was found dead in her Young Terrace home, her grieving cousin is critical of how the media and police have responded.

“We need to be doing more in our communities to help these young women stop getting hurt. If this was a white woman, I guarantee this would have been all over the news,” said Shanelle Scarbor, who is the victim’s second cousin. She established a GoFundMe account to help with the care of the victim’s children.

On the evening of March 14, Shanelle Scarbor rushed to her cousin’s home in 500 block of E. Olney Road, just outside downtown, to find several police officers on the scene. She describes their behavior as rude when they prevented family members from getting too close to the crime scene.

“We were out there for at least two hours before anybody [police] even spoke to us. They were out there talking to each other laughing and giggling,” said Shanelle Scarbor.

The young mother’s body was found Monday when her 6-year-old daughter returned home from school. Family members say the child had spent the weekend with her father.

“She’s knocking on the door, knocking on the door. She doesn’t get an answer so she looks in the mail slot and she turns back to her daddy and said ‘Mommy’s on the floor, Mommy’s on the floor,’ and her [1-year-old] brother is crying; her baby brother is upstairs screaming,” said Shanelle Scarbor.

Police arrived on the scene on March 14, but neighbors have reason to believe Jwanta Scarbor was in trouble as early as Saturday, March 12. Neighbor Taquan Williams tried to reach her on Saturday when food delivered to her home sat outside unattended.

“I see a bunch of groceries around the door. I knocked on the door for two or three minutes; nobody answered the door,” explained Williams.

According to the Norfolk Medical Examiner’s Office, Scarbor died from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

While the case is under investigation, loved ones want police to know the mother of a 6-year-old girl, a 3-year-old girl, and a 1-year-old boy was a life that mattered.

“They [police] need to show us families some empathy because it makes us feel like they don’t care,” said Shanelle Scarbor.

Funeral services are set for Saturday, March 26 at 11 a.m. at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church at 1000 County Street in Portsmouth.

If you have any information on who killed Jwanta Scarbor, police ask that you call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.