Friends, loved ones and neighbors came together Friday to honor an expectant mother who was shot Thursday in North Philadelphia.
Neither Shaliyah Davis nor the baby carried for about 4 months survived the shooting on the 2500 block of Berks Street, Philadelphia Police said in a statement.
At first, it was unclear who was the intended target of the shooting around 2:30 p.m. Thursday. But police later revealed that a man with a gun fired at an SUV, trying to hit Davis' boyfriend, who was also at the scene. A shot hit Davis, 25, and both men fled the area.
"It's an innocent person and a messed up situation," said Rel, a man at the Friday night vigil who declined to give his last name. "It's just messed up for us right now. She was nice, everybody knew her, everybody loved her."
Her loss was felt and her memory was remembered Friday. Before sunset, people lit prayer candles and an inflatable lantern.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has said the department is tracking down leads to locate the shooter. "Any shooting is a terrible shooting but this continues to escalate the urgency we have to do what we can to stem the violence," Outlaw said.
"This is a Friday and it's nice, she should be out here enjoying the day like everybody else is," Rel added. "Getting ready to plan to have her baby, that's what she should be doing."
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And he was disturbed that whatever happened before the shooting was brought to an end with violence.
"People need to talk first and stop jumping the gun all the time," Rel said.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia.Further information can be found here.
