The unspeakable violence in the world always seems like it is in a far off place between criminals and warlords.
But the fact of the matter is that we have to protect our children even in our own backyards, because there are times violence finds its way to you.
One mother and her child were not prepared to have their lives taken so soon by heartless gunmen.
Richmond police officers were dispatched to the 4000 block of Midlothian Turnpike one evening, according to ABC News, hoping the situation wasn’t as dire as it sounded.
The officers’ worst nightmare became a reality when they arrived on the scene to find two women, two teenagers, and one 3-month-old baby with gunshot wounds.
Alarmed officers quickly assessed the scene to find the mother of the infant, Sharnez Hill, dead on their arrival, reported ABCNews.go.com.
All the other gunshot victims were rushed to the hospital, but sadly, the 3-month-old little girl did not make it.
Richmond Police disclosed in a statement:
“The three other female victims have injuries that are not believed to be life threatening.”
What led up to this bloodbath in the yard of an apartment building?
Three men seemingly had a plan to ambush these women in hopes of executing them.
ABC News Go reports:
“Donald Hemmings, 22; Shyheem Martin, 23; and Shamondrick Perry, 19, were charged with conspiracy to commit murder.”
The apartment building was right across the street from a high school, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith shared.
With so many families around and an institution for children right across the street, the situation could have been even worse.
Investigators believe it was the shooters’ intent to eliminate individuals inside a particular unit in the apartment building.
It is incomprehensible how a group of men could do something so terrible to a group of women and children.
Chief Smith had the same sentiments which he shared in a press conference:
“It’s just a heinous act that baffles the mind as to why anyone would do this in a quad full of children just out enjoying themselves. They had no regard for the individuals that were out there.”
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said, “This is a tragedy that no community should have to experience.”
The senseless killing of any human being is tragic in its own right, but having an infant succumb to their early demise is heinous.
Hopefully, the three men involved in the shooting are charged and convicted to the fullest extent of the law and justice deters the immoral from doing something so horrifying again.