'I will get justice': Heartbroken mother of 15-year-old girl shot in West Baltimore demands answers
BALTIMORE -- The mother of 15-year-old Nykayla Strawder is demanding answers after the shooting death of her daughter Saturday night in Edmondson Village. It happened in the 600-block of Linnard Street.
"My last thing I said to my child was, 'I love you.' She said, 'I love you too mother,'" Nykerah Strawder told WJZ through tears.
Police said a 9-year-old boy shot Nykayla on her mother's front porch, dropped the weapon, then ran.
Under a new state law, the child cannot be charged due to his age. But an adult could face charges if they were negligent in securing the weapon.
"I heard a boom. It shook my house. It shook my soul," the victim's mother said of the gunshot. She rushed outside and cradled her dying daughter in her arms.
"I've got to speak for her. She was my everything," Nykerah Strawder said.
The gun was registered to a relative of the 9-year-old. That person works as a security guard. Police said their investigation into how the child was able to obtain a weapon remains open.
"This is a child who was able to get a Glock and shoot my baby right in the head on her porch," Strawder said. "If I'm a security officer and I had a child, I would check that box every day. ...My soul, my heart knows this is not right. This was no accident."
She told WJZ her daughter loved french fries, her favorite color was purple, and she dreamed of going to college for design.
"I want people to know that she had dreams. She had big dreams. She wanted me to move out of state so she could have a better life. She was my everything. She was my best friend," her mother said.
She remembered how her daughter "glowed" at her prom in May. Less than three months later, she would be dead. "She was so beautiful. I cried just like the day she was born. I will get justice for her if it takes me until the end of my lifetime. Nykayla did not deserve that. She did not deserve to be taken away from her family."
The Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement was going door-to-door within a six-block radius of the shooting Monday. They said they will be on the ground there to provide trauma support for the next 45 days.
