Victim In North Minneapolis Parking Lot Shooting ID'd
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A mother and grandmother are spending this Mother's Day grieving instead of celebrating.
A young woman they loved was shot and killed this weekend. It happened Friday at about 1:15 p.m. in north Minneapolis off Broadway Avenue. Police believe the person who killed 26-year-old Iesha Wiley knew her.
On Sunday, WCCO's Susan-Elizabeth Littlefield talked with her heartbroken family.
Iesha Wiley's mother and grandmother say the young woman had been living in fear for a while, afraid that someone from her past was trying to hurt her. While standing outside a store with her cousin and cousin's baby nearby, Iesha Wiley lost her life.
"My daughter would be here. Probably kissing on her grandma, asking her what she wants," Teddie Wiley said.
Wiley was supposed to be here --- nestled between her grandmother Carol, and her mom, Teddie.
But what would have been an occasion for celebration is now a day of devastation.
"Mother's Day, what a way - shattered. So hurt, distraught right now, my world," Teddie said.
Her family says she'd been saying for a while she was afraid someone was going to take her life - and Friday it happened.
"The doctors came up and talked to me, she was shot through her heart, shot through her heart. I don't understand it, I won't understand it," Wiley's grandmother, Carol Martin, said.
Police are trying to understand it too, they won't name names, but believe Iesha knew her killer. Her mother says she had a bright future - a fashion lover she was working to open a boutique.
A giver, they say she loved spending time with children. And now they sit together, praying that while they are in anguish, their little girl has found peace.
"I know God's got her, he's got her, he opened them gates," Teddie said.
Police aren't giving many details - they tell us they have not made any arrests - they still need tips. Iesha's family says they are going to start working on burial arrangements, working hard to make sure she's honored in every detail.
Family members say the shooter had, at one point, been in a relationship with Wiley. The suspect, who fled the scene, has yet to be identified by authorities.
A Go Fund Me account has been set up to help the family of Iesha. Anyone with information on the suspect or the shooting is asked to text police at 847411 or call the tip line at 612-692-8477.