Heartbroken family members mourn a young mother who died fleeing gunfire in West Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Family and friends held a vigil for Maya Morton, 23, a young mother killed in West Baltimore.
Her 1-year-old son and 3-year-old son were with her when she was shot. They remain in critical condition in the hospital.
Balloons and flowers cover a pole at the corner of Laurens Street and North Fremont Avenue in Upton.
"I'm outraged," Morton's sister, Shay, said. "I want justice, whatever that might be."
The memorial marks the spot where Morton crashed her car after she was shot on Saturday. Her two kids in the car with her were injured in the crash.
Maya died two days later.
"I want everybody to remember my little sister as sweet as she was," Morton said.
Shay gathered with Morton's many friends and family on Thursday to remember her and pray for her two sons.
Baltimore Police said Morton and her sons were waiting for a takeout order on Pennsylvania Avenue Saturday night when shots were fired.
Two other people were shot when gunfire erupted at the Upton neighborhood's most popular intersection. One of them survived their injuries, but 43-year-old Gerald Fowlkes died.
Investigators released surveillance photos of several suspects two days ago.
"There was one time that was unheard of because you would never touch a child, a mother in the city when it came to violence," a family friend Timothy Powell said. "But right now, they don't care."
Maya's loved ones said she grew up in Upton and she always had her sons with her.
They're asking for prayers that they one day recover and that the suspects are eventually brought to justice.
"She's heartfelt and I'm heartbroken," Shay said. "I want people to know they broke my family. They broke me—my heart."