A mother was killed and her daughter, 5, grazed by a bullet while the two were sitting in a car in a residential neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives told NBC10's Claudia Rivero that the woman, identified by her brother as Aliesha Canty, 31, was in the driver's seat of a parked, dark colored Honda on the 7300-block of Theodore around 4:10 p.m. Her little girl was sitting in the back seat.
The two were there to pick up the father of the woman's other two children, 18 month old female twins. Police say the father was 20 years old and lived in a halfway house. Canty was picking him up at his grandmother's house.
"They parked the vehicle on the curbside, she leaves the engine running, she calls the father of her child who lives in this particular block. She's calling him to give him a ride back to the halfway house in North Philadelphia. As the male was coming out of the house and towards the car, unknown gunmen begin firing at the car striking it numerous times," said Lieutenant John Walker.
According to Walker the woman put the car in reverse and tried to get away but the car hit a house and became disabled. The gunmen ran after the car and continued firing shots, said Walker.
"The child in the car is not the daughter of the person she was coming to pick up, she has two other children with that male who were not on scene at the time," said Walker.
Evidence markings at the scene indicate that nearly 30 rounds may have been fired at the car and police believe there may have been two gunmen.
"We believe the father is the one who was the intended target. He was walking toward the car as the shots rang out. We believe she just happened to be in the middle of this mayhem," said Walker.
Canty was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She was a mother of 5 and worked at a hotel in Concordville, Delaware County.
The 5-year-old was treated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and released late Tuesday night.
Canty's brother, Tiwam Canty told NBC10, "Right now I'm just so devastated, like I lost my sister, I lost my better half and my niece almost lost her life."
Police are reviewing tape from surveillance cameras in the area. They say at this point they don't know if the gunmen were on foot, in a car or on bikes.
"All I want is for the cowards to turn themselves in. Can't hide, it'll be on your conscience until you go to your grave," said Tiwam Canty.
Anyone with information is asked to call Philadelphia Police.
