BY MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA
Chicago Sun-Times
An 11-year-old girl died hours after being shot in her head Friday night in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, officials said.
Shamiya Adams was shot about 9:35 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Gladys Avenue, officials said.
She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. The girl had surgery early Saturday morning but died hours later.
Shamiya had been placed on a breathing machine, family members said.
Neighbors said the girl was apparently playing inside a home when a stray bullet struck the youngster. Some family members said she was at a friend’s sleepover party in a bedroom when a bullet went through the window.
“If you can’t even be at home, where can you be safe?” said Terrence Redmond, a 32-year-old cousin.
But the girl’s aunt, Trenise Lyons, said Shamiya was with other children on the porch of a friend’s home when she was wounded after some males were firing shots in the area. Lyons, 32, also said Shamiya was at a sleepover.
Shamiya has two brothers — one is a twin, while the other is a teen, Lyons said.
“She was just a baby,” Lyons said. “She didn’t deserve this.”
Earlier Saturday, Shamiya’s great-grandmother, who joined about 20 other relatives in the Mount Sinai waiting room, pointed out the girl’s twin brother fighting to stay awake in his chair.
“He said he wasn’t gonna sleep until he saw his sister,” said the great-grandmother, who declined to give her name.
On Friday afternoon, three people, including a 12-year-old girl, were shot in the Humboldt Park neighborhood.
A man, a woman and the girl were on the street in the 700 block of North Ridgeway Avenue about 3:30 p.m. when someone approached on foot and fired at them, police said.
The 33-year-old woman was shot just above her right eye, while the 12-year-old girl suffered a graze wound to the left foot, police said. Both were taken in to Stroger Hospital.
The man, 44, suffered a graze wound to the calf and was treated at the scene, police said.
— Contributing: Reema Amin and Luke Wilusz