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Mother Of Newtown Shooting Victim Hopes Report Leads To Changes

BOSTON (CBS) - The mother of a young girl killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting last year says the Connecticut State's Attorney's newly-released report points to important lessons. "The information is really critical and it's very important to the rest of the country to try to understand what happened and how they can prevent it in their own communities," said Michele Gay. Her daughter, Josephine Gay, was known as Joey.

She says a picture showing a shattered window at the school's entrance stands out to her. The report says Adam Lanza shot the window to get past the locked doors. "There's ballistic film for windows. There are tons of ways we can reinforce the entrance and the windows of our schools," she said.

The report also contained photos of Lanza's bedroom, with black tarps over the windows. It said he holed-up in the room for months at a time, communicating with his own mother only through email. "It's hard to believe that in our picturesque peaceful community, someone was struggling so severely with mental illness, and not receiving any kind of treatment for it," said Gay.
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Joey Gay's family is closing in on a difficult time...their first holidays without her, what would have been her eighth birthday December 11th, and the one-year anniversary of her death three days later. Her mother says her saving grace is the Joey Fund, raising money for families with autistic children, like Joey. It's part of the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation. On Joey's birthday in two weeks, there's a special online fundraising campaign.

"It's a fantastic gift that we have this in the midst of many other things that put a lot of pressure on us, and can't help but bring us down and make us sad," said Gay.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Joey's Fund

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