On Tuesday, 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins died at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, succumbing to the massive internal wounds she suffered a day earlier, when she was shot five times on a Chicago street.
Jonylah was shot as her father, Johnathan Watkins was changing her diaper in the front passenger seat of a Chevy Venture minivan in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the city's southside.
The gunman shot both father and daughter multiple times before fleeing the scene in a waiting van.
Jonathan Watkins is listed in serious condition in Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Watkins is a known gang member, and the shooting is believed to be gang related, according to police.
No arrests have been made in the case, and as is so often the case in gang-related shootings, no witnesses have come forward.
Of course, tiny Jonylah is only the latest child to fall victim to Chicago's crushing violence...
The Associated Press reported:
Monday's attack added to the grim roster of young children who have been gunned down, including a 7-year-old girl who was caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout while selling snow cones last summer and a 6-year-old girl killed a year earlier while sitting between her mother's legs on the family's porch.
The attack wasn't even Jonylah's first brush with gun violence. Her mother, Judy Watkins, was shot in the knee while pregnant with her, according to the woman's mother, Mary Young.
The city of Chicago, which has placed what amounts to a ban on handguns, recorded more than 500 murders last year.
In fact, since 1990, more than 15,000 murders have occurred in the city.
Related articles:
Comments