Christina Green's Neighbor Suzi Hileman Speaks About Her Death

Waiting in line to meet U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, young Christina Taylor Green was so excited that her neighbor tried to calm her down by asking her questions about the number of people involved in making federal laws.

The next thing Suzi Hileman knew, they were both on the ground. Hileman was bleeding and Christina was silent.

"I was yelling 'Christina Taylor Green, don't you die on me!'" Hileman told NBC. "'Don't leave me to do this by myself!'"

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In the emotional interview with NBC, Hileman recounted the events of the day earlier this month when she brought 9-year-old Christina to the "Congress on Your Corner" event where a man shot Giffords in the head and killed six people, including Christina.

"I was responsible for her," Hileman said. "It was my job to bring her home to her mom and dad."

Christina had recently been elected as a member of the student council. Hileman, a social worker who grew up in New York, encouraged her to think about a career in politics and pointed to the example of Giffords.

"I said to Christina, 'That could be you. There is no reason on God's green earth that you can't grow up to be that, if that's what you want to be,'" Hileman said.

Christina's story touched the world, not only because she was the youngest victim of the shooting rampage, but also because she was born the same day terrorists brought down the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Now, Hileman is trying to recover from her own injuries while dealing with the emotion that her thoughtful invitation led to Christina's death. She has written on her blog that she does not know if it's possible to live with the knowledge that she watched the light go out of Christina's eyes.

"I do know that I will try," Hileman wrote, according to the Arizona Republic.

Jared Loughner, 22, has been indicted on three counts related to the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six people and wounded 13 others.