Philadelphia

Donations Pour in for Baby Who Died After Pregnant Mom Shot on Philly Street

Dozens of people have raised thousands of dollars for the funeral of a newborn baby as authorities continue to search for the man accused of fatally shooting the infant's pregnant mom on a Philly street Sunday morning.

A GoFundMe page for Nicolleta Rose, the daughter of 25-year-old Megan Doto, was launched Tuesday -- the same day authorities named 27-year-old Devon Guisherd as a suspect in the pregnant woman's murder.

"Baby girl Nicolleta Rose survived but due to the amount of time she lacked oxygen to the brain she could not live," according to the fundraising website. "Nicolleta fell asleep in her paternal [grandmother's] arms, joining her mother in heaven."

More than $3,000 was raised in less than a day on the site, which indicated a funeral for the infant will be held Saturday. Doto believed she was having a boy and planned to name him Carmine, but the baby turned out to be a girl. 

Leann Hill, a coworker of the paternal grandmother, created the GoFundMe campaign hoping to ease funeral costs. Hill says anything left over will go to Doto's surviving two children. 

Doto was eight-months pregnant with Nicolleta when she was shot while sitting with a man outside a home on the 1500 block of Adams Avenue in the city's Frankford neighborhood Sunday, according to officials.

Medics rushed Doto to Temple University Hospital where she underwent an emergency c-section. Doctors pronounced Doto dead a short time later, according to police.

The deceased woman's boyfriend, who is the father of the newborn, said the baby girl died less than an hour after her delivery. Hospital officials said that the child died Monday at 1:13 a.m.

An arrest warrant was issued for Guisherd, of the 4200 block of Penn Street in the city's Frankford section, late Tuesday morning.

"He's considered armed and extremely dangerous," Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark said. "He has a very violent history and we need to get him off the streets." 

Clark said they were able to identify Guisherd as the suspect through tips from the public. 

"When you have a young lady and you have a newborn baby that never was given a chance, I just think it touched their hearts," Clark said.

Family members of the suspect insist Guisherd is innocent, but investigators are still searching for the man who they are calling a fugitive.

Anyone with information on the suspect's whereabouts is urged to contact police at 215-686-3334 or 3335.

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