DATE: Thursday, June 12, 1997               TAG: 9706120460

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   91 lines

STRANGERS' SUPPORT COMFORTS MOTHER OF MURDERED GIRL THEIR GIFTS HAVE ALSO ERASED HER FEAR OF NOT BEING ABLE TO AFFORD A FUNERAL.

They came bearing gifts, their hearts heavy with sorrow, hoping to ease a grieving mother's burden.

The first was a stranger who appeared at Daphlyn Johnson White's doorstep at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, offering condolences and an envelope filled with $25 in cash.

By afternoon, White's biggest worry - that she could not afford to give her murdered daughter a fitting funeral - had evaporated in an outpouring of love and goodwill.

Eboni Johnson, an honor-roll student killed by two bullets fired through her front door Sunday night, will be buried in a white casket with gold flecks, donated by the B&S Casket Co. of Conway, N.C.

She will be wearing her favorite outfit - a sleeveless polyester lavender vest with matching pants - hand-washed and pressed by Crystal Cleaners on London Boulevard and delivered to White, all free of charge.

One woman, an owner of a child-care service, offered free babysitting to the family.

Another stranger, who said she also lost a family member to a violent death, came with a check in hand and a promise to return with more.

The community support has overwhelmed the 33-year-old mother of two, who lost her only daughter, shot by an unknown gunman in an apparently random attack. At about 10 p.m. Sunday, a stranger came to the family's home in the 2200 block of Peach St. and fired two shots when Eboni came to answer the door. The bullets pierced the wooden door and struck Eboni in the face and chest. She died Monday with family members beside her hospital bed.

``People have opened their hearts and churches and their homes,'' White said of the community's generosity, her eyes filled with tears. ``People have just been coming out. It's just overwhelming.''

By Wednesday afternoon, well-wishers had brought an estimated $500 to White's home, and more contributions are expected as churches, schools, offices and neighbors continue to take up collections.

``People from all over the Hampton Roads area have just been sending me cards,'' White said, sitting in her living room, crammed with visitors, cards and flowers. ``Everyone is saying the same thing: I can't begin to express to you how I feel.''

A large black box, filled with Eboni's keepsakes, rested beneath the coffee table. Family members had taped more than a dozen color photographs of Eboni, from childhood to adolescence, onto a large brass mirror hanging in the living room.

White and other family members estimate that they have had more than 50 visits from strangers, long-lost friends, former teachers, city officials and Eboni's classmates.

When White went to apply for burial assistance at one city agency, even employees there shook her hand and gave support.

``This one woman, she was reading the newspaper article about Eboni when I came in, and she put the newspaper down, jumped up and said, `Let me just hug you and give you some love,' '' White said. ``The word `Eboni' is on everyone's lips.''

White said while she knew she did not have the money for a proper burial for Eboni, she put her faith in God. The senseless slaying of her daughter has forced her to come to terms with her faith, she said.

``I know what I have to do,'' White said. ``I have to be re-born again and put on my armor and be a soldier for Christ . . . through Eboni.''

``I was angry with Him at first when Eboni died,'' she said, ``because I just knew that with all of the prayers, a miracle was coming.

``But when she died, I just felt like He let me down. It's just because I'm human.''

``Eboni - she truly loved me,'' White said, looking at her last Mother's Day gift from Eboni: a mint-green, heart-shaped pillow she made. ``Now, I'm preparing to give her a final life countdown.''

The date and time of the funeral have not been set yet.

Police had made no arrests Wednesday and have released few details about the incident, but White said police have located a witness. Police could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

``We understand there is justice,'' said Diana Johnson Blackwell, Eboni's aunt. ``We're standing here bearing no bitterness.

``If this man is not caught, I pray that this man will have changed. We pray that he will not do this again.''

At noon on Wednesday, White and other family members said they received a sign that Eboni was at peace.

``The sun was almost directly above our home, and a big rainbow went completely around the sun,'' White said. ``That was Eboni, shining down on us.

``She's showing us her love.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot

Daphlyn Johnson White, surrounded by her family, stands in front of

her home in Portsmouth. Community support in the wake of her

daughter's shooting death has overwhelmed the 33-year-old mother;

she estimates that there have been more than 50 visits from

well-wishers so far. KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING

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