by all means not to excuse the sheets that wear badges but she makes good points. gotta a couple of stories to drop that stayed in my memory banks. I've heard of two flipping baby showers getting shot up in the last several years.
goons sprayed up the house and killed this mother and child
Mother and toddler son killed in shooting at Miami home, report says
December 14, 2010|By Jennifer Lebovich, The Miami Herald
Ever the proud mother, Ciara Lee bragged to friends that her 2-year-old son already knew his numbers and ABCs.
A recent photograph of the two shows Lee holding Devon Franklin protectively, both with beaming smiles.
A hail of bullets from a high-powered rifle ended both their lives about 1 a.m. Tuesday inside their home in the Victory Homes projects in Miami. "All she wanted to do was take care of her son and be a good parent," said Lee's best friend, Kendra Walker, 23.
Lee, 24, a state corrections officer, and her son were not the intended targets, police said. The shooter or shooters sprayed the one-story peach home at 630 NW 73rd St. before fleeing. Officers recovered more than 60 shell casings outside.
"They didn't stand a chance," said Lee's grandmother, Ella Saulsberry, 81. Lee often helped Saulsberry and had planned to spend Tuesday — her day off — with her.
"She was going to make it," lamented Saulsberry, who raised Lee. "She was going places."
Lee and Devon, along with the boy's father, Andrew Franklin, were sleeping in a back bedroom when the gunfire started. Also in the home: Lee's cousins Tracy Mitchell and Willie Mitchell, and her uncle, Tony Lee.
Tony Lee was shot in the right leg. He was treated and released from Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The gunfire awoke those in the household.
"I heard the first shot, and it sounded like it came from somewhere else," said Willie Mitchell, 45. Tony Lee, 49, also thought the shooters were aiming elsewhere.
Then Lee saw the bullet holes. He was already shot "by the time I hit the floor. I was just trying to get out of the way of the bullets," he said.
By the time the bursts of gunfire stopped, dozens of bullets had pierced the walls inside and outside the home. Police said the gunman or gunmen circled much of the structure firing.
Willie Mitchell said she crawled on her knees to Ciara Lee's bedroom. Ciara was on the floor, bleeding. Andrew Franklin, her boyfriend, was in the closet holding Devon. Willie Mitchell said she called Ciara Lee's name.
"She didn't say anything. She took her last breath. That was the end of it."
The victims said they had no idea why the house would have been targeted.
"They shot up the whole house," Mitchell said. "Window to window to window, on both sides."
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, police said the area is known for drug activity. Maj. Jorge Martin said the attack is under investigation as a possible "drug-related homicide."
Before the shooting, there was a dispute outside the home, police said. But they were not able to say whether the intended shooting target was involved or, when the shooting took place, if the intended target was inside the home.
But surely, mother and son "did not deserve to die in a blaze of bullets as they slept in their home," said Police Chief Miguel Exposito, asking for the public's help.
"It don't make no sense to shoot up a house with a 2-year-old in it," Willie Mitchell said.
At South Florida Reception Center, where Ciara Lee worked as a day-shift housing officer, counselors were available for the staff on Tuesday.
Lee supervised inmates in a dormitory. Saturday would have marked her one-year anniversary with the department.
"She is remembered by co-workers as having brought a bright, positive nature to a difficult and dangerous job," Warden David Harris said in a statement. "Those who knew her describe her wonderful warm smile and say that her radiant spirit always seemed to light up the room."
Lee's distraught mother, Teresa Lee, said the violence must end.
"They need to put a stop to these guns," she said.
Authorities ask anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.
Miami Herald staff writer Diana Moskovitz contributed to this report
Deadly Shooting At North Miami Baby Shower
May 6, 2013 5:52 PM
One man was killed in a shooting at a baby shower in North Miami. (Source: CBS4)
NORTH MIAMI (CBS4) – Police are appealing for the public’s help after a 25-year-old man was gunned down Sunday night at a baby shower.
Detectives have identified the man as 25-year-old Jeffrey Leroy of North Miami. His sister told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench that she has no idea what prompted the shooting.
“Here they are trying to celebrate the birth of a child and instead they are mourning the death of an adult,” said North Miami police spokesman Major Neal Cuevas.
The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. at the Gwen Margolis Community Center at Northeast 16th Avenue and 123rd Street.
“A fight broke out between two to three individuals and shots were fired and one of the individuals is now dead,” said Cuevas.
Aliah Tatuck described a frightening scene for the dozens of guests that included children.
“I see a lot of people running everywhere, running and screaming,” said Tatuck. “I see a lot of people running to the back. It was really, really scary. Like you are making a baby shower, thinking like everybody, everything is going to be ok like that. I feel really worry for that woman.”
Since there were no surveillance cameras at the center, police have asked for the next best thing.
“While there was no surveillance tape at the center, there may have been cell phone video from one of the dozens of guests. We are appealing for their help, if they have any cell phone video, to come forward,” said Cuevas. “That would be huge help.”
Cuevas said the relationship between the shooter and Leroy is not clear. It’s not known if they knew each other or if there is more than one suspect.
D’Oench spoke with a number of Leroy’s close friends outside his North Miami home where he lived with his mother and father.
“It’s like saying if you lose someone special to your heart,” said one close friend who did not want to give his name. “You are here yesterday and gone tomorrow.”
“You are living in the street life,” he said. “A bunch of kids don’t know no good. They don’t know no better.”
Tatuck said she eels sorry for the children who witnessed the shooting.
“Imagine you as a mother, or you know, me as a mother coming to a party with my kids and seeing this kind of stuff. That’s really scary,” she said.
Cuevas said they questioned many of the people who attended the shower but so far don’t have a good description of the shooter.
Anyone who can help is asked to call North Miami Police or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
“We need to get this suspect off the street,” said Cuevas.
