Baltimore mother slams shooter who killed 12-year-old daughter in parking dispute
Baltimore police are still searching for the person who shot and killed a 12-year-old girl in West Baltimore over the weekend.
The violence unfolded just after 6 p.m. Saturday near a youth football game at Leon Day Park.
Police believe the shooting stemmed from an argument over a parking spot.
Heartbroken family speaks
Family members of victim Khloe Ishway called the shooting senseless.
The 12-year-old was with her mother, who was dropping off a bottle for her baby brother, when she was caught in the crossfire.
"It's so heartbreaking. This is senseless at a kids' event. We never expected this. She was with her mom and her brother. This could've been way worse. It's just senseless and I'm just heartbroken," said Donna Reese, Ishway's grandmother.
"She was a grandma's girl. She was a bit of a homemaker because I taught her how to do everything around the house, and she was great at it. She was a great big sister, a great daughter."
Reese said her granddaughter was also her best friend.
"She called me every day — every day when I got off of work to see where I'm at," Reese said. "Now, who's going to call my phone? My phone won't ring anymore. I'm going to miss my baby."
Ishway loved music and enjoyed swimming and dancing, her family said.
The area around Leon Day Park was packed Saturday for a youth football homecoming game when the shooting happened.
Ishway was one of five people shot in the violence.
The other four victims are expected to survive, police told WJZ. They include a 25-year-old woman who was shot, two men, ages 23 and 28, who went to hospitals seeking treatment for gunshot wounds, and a 35-year-old woman who was grazed in the back.
"Just know I love you and I'm going to miss you. You're forever 12. You're forever my baby. I love you. You will forever live through me," said Ishway's mother, Kristin Reese. "I know she is in a good place, and I know she's happy. That's all that matters."
Kristin Reese also had harsh words for the person whom police believe fired the shots during the argument over a parking spot.
"To bring a gun to a kids' event, it's already a clown move," she said. "You don't do that, and I want justice for my baby."
Reese said she and her daughter were only supposed to be at the park briefly.
"We were only supposed to go there for one second. We weren't even at the game. I was just dropping my son's baby bottle off, and then we were leaving," she said.
Mayor's response
Police are working to solve the case and have repeatedly canvassed the area.
In comments Monday, Mayor Brandon Scott said he is confident the case will be closed quickly.
"I don't think this is one that's going to take us long to bring. Detectives have been working around the clock to bring the people to justice and turn them over to the state to prosecute," Scott said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7-LOCKUP. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Leads can also be submitted online.
Walking for peace
Erricka Bridgeford, a longtime anti-violence advocate with the Baltimore Peace Movement, grew up near Leon Day Park and said her brothers trained there.
Bridgeford told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren that people need to learn how to resolve conflicts before they escalate.
"A child has been killed simply because people don't know how to resolve conflict peacefully and don't understand that you're actually stronger and wiser when you know how to walk away," she said.
Bridgeford and others gathered Monday night at the park to remember Ishway.
"Having a young person be killed, it is important that the community shows up to say, look at what her 12 years of life has now inspired us to become in the city and inspired us to do," Bridgeford said. "That's what a person not dying in vain means: That a young life matters to us, and that it inspires us to be greater and better in this city."
