A seven-year-old girl made a gut-wrenching wish and asked Santa for her father to come back after he was shot and killed days before Christmas.
Father-of-three Joshua Mitchell, 37, was tragically shot dead on December 17 on his own driveway as he arrived home from work. Police noted that he was shot several times and died at the scene as a result of his injuries.
As reported by 11 Alive, authorities received several calls of shots being fired in the Douglasville neighborhood in Georgia, but a shooter is yet to be arrested.
As authorities attempt to piece together why the shooting took place, Mitchell's family has been paying tribute to him, with his daughter making a heartbreaking request.
Sa’Raya, the youngest daughter, wrote a letter to Santa explaining that someone had "hurt" her father and that she wants "God to bring him back," per News.com.au.
The gut-wrenching letter read: "Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is I want my dad back. I love my dad. Someone hurt my dad. I want God to bring him back. I’m getting good grades and I [am] good at school."
Speaking to 11 Alive, Mitchell's wife Nicoele said: "He was the type of person that would give people an opportunity even off of the streets.
"The fact that it happened before Christmas will always be a conversation of ‘when we lost Daddy’."
Mitchell was a marine who his wife described as "honorable", as well as an entrepreneur and father to three young girls and a devoted stepfather.
Nicoele explained that on the morning of the shooting, the final words that were exchanged between the husband and wife were full of love.
"I’m glad that that morning before he left off to work, we got to say those words to each other," she explained. "That will forever be in my brain. His kiss and, ‘I love you'."
Mitchell leaves behind his wife, seven-year-old Sa’Raya, his 10-year-old daughter, Sa'Maya, and his 12-year-old daughter Jaida.
Police are asking anybody with any information on the shooting or the perpetrators to contact Paulding County Sheriff's Office or the GBI immediately.
Our thoughts are with Mitchell's family and friends at this time.