A fatal shooting in a Detroit suburb ended in tragedy as an innocent toddler paid the ultimate price as she became a victim in response to a nightclub shooting that happened in April of this year.
The unspeakable incident occurred Tuesday in Inkster Michigan as 2 year old Kamiya French was playing outside in her front yard, supervised by her father and a 12 year old girl. The attacker walked into the yard and shot Kamiya point blank in the face, killing her instantly. Her father was shot multiple times resulting in non-life threatening wounds. The 12 year old girl, Chelsea Lancaster was a relative of Kamiya, was critically injured.
Monique Cruz , a neighbor, stated:
“This Inkster, stuff like this happens all the time, but not to kids. Not the babies. It don’t make sense because her daddy is loved by everybody.”
A neighbor visiting the area described the scene , still in shock. Andy Anderson was visiting family that lived nearby and witnessed the shooting. He explained that the shooter walked toward the children and shot Kamiya first at point blank range before moving his aim toward the other two.
“He shot the baby. I thought, no, he didn’t. And then he turned the gun and started shooting the porch.”
Andy Anderson took cover behind a car, worried that the shooter would focus his aim on the onlookers as well. He continued to explain that the gunman arrived in a van that was driven by another individual. When the shooter finished murdering Kamiya and wounding the others, he returned to the van and left promptly.
In less than two weeks, Kamiya would be turning 3.
Police do not believe that the children were targeted, but instead became victims of circumstance. The shooting suspect was later arrested at his girlfriend’s house and they are still searching for the driver of the van.
Antwan Harrison, another neighbor, was outraged by the incident:
“We’re talking about a senseless murder. A guy with no morals. The innocent shouldn’t have to pay for our suffering.”
Community activist, Aaron Simms, is organizing a vigil for Kamiya and is placing signs throughout the neighborhood that read, “I am not a snitch, I am a neighbor.” He went on to say:
“People are just shooting because they don’t know how to do anything else”
On a positive note, Chelsea Lancaster’s family stated that although she was shot in the leg and stomach, her surgery went well and she is not paralyzed. Her grandmother, Porcia Holt, said:
“She woke up, opened her yes and squeezes her mom’s hand”
Image source: screengrab via RawStory.com