Chelsia Joyce, 17, was shot as she sat in a car in front of a home on Bay Avenue.
Joyce and friends managed to drive less than half mile before stopping in front of Tanya Rayfield's home.
"Suddenly we hear a woman screaming, 'Help me,' and she just repeated it over and over again at the top of her lungs. At that point I called the police," Rayfield said.
Deputies arrived within minutes and found Joyce sitting in a car with a single gunshot wound. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she later died.
A memorial of flowers, candles and signs are displayed along the sidewalk where her life was cut short. A vigil was held for the teen Sunday evening.
On Monday, friends stopped by to leave mementos and mourn the teen. Sherry Walker went by to offer her prayers.
"I try to go around and pray for a lot of our youth that's out here, that's kind of going through the things they going through," Walker said. "Our youth out here is leaving us."
Joyce's family and friends said that they were too distraught to comment on her sudden death.
Residents said they were in disbelief. Ashtin Bryant was two streets away when she heard gunshots.
"I don't know exactly how many it was," Bryant said. "I was coming outside helping my friend get her stuff out the car and I just heard gunshots."
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Left over cans littered the front yard of the home where Joyce had attended a party with friends. Neighbors said the home was packed with young people.
"There was a couple hundred people here," neighbor Jeremy Adammichia said. "I only heard three or four shots. I asked someone what happened, he just said someone let off."
Neighbors say they are concerned with the level of violence in their city.
"I got to get out of Moreno Valley," said Bryant. "This is hitting too close to home."
"Before at times there was a bit more violence on this street but lately it's very quiet," said resident Leticia Munzo through a translator.
Investigators have not released any information in regards to a suspect description or motive. Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside Sheriff's Department at 951-955-2777.
