Update - 2 teens have been reportedly arrested in connection with the case.
Tragedy struck Thursday morning as Sherry West was walking her 13-month-old boy Antonio in the seaside town of Brunswick, GA.
West was approached by two boys, one who she claimed was between 13-15 and the other as young as 10 years old. Once they reached her, they demanded that West give them whatever money she had.
"He said, 'I'm gonna kill you if you don't give me your money,' and I said, 'I swear, I don't have any,'" West said. "I put my arms over my baby and he shoves me and he shot my baby right in the head."
West was also shot, though only received a wound to the leg. Todd Rhodes, a spokesman for the Brunswick Police Department has said that there does not appear to be any clear motive at this time. Officers are reviewing school attendance records to identify who was missing from class that day.
"This is obviously just a terrible day in the city of Brunswick," Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson said Thursday, "and made even more terrible by the senseless killing of a young child. And it appears perpetrated by children themselves."
One possibility is that this could have been part of a gang initiation ritual. To obtain entry into a gang, prospective member are often required to perform a hit on a random person. This would explain why the boys fired on the woman and her baby despite the absence of a struggle or any foreseeable reward.
If this was the case, it is likely that the boys are not from the immediate area. Brunswick is regarded as a pleasant place to live with a relatively low rate of crime, and the shooting happened in a quiet residential neighborhood.
"It's a nice area, it's a clean area, it's an area where law-abiding citizens not only live, they also work and play," observed Rhodes.
West has been cooperating with authorities, but so far there has been little evidence to go on. The handgun used in the shooting has not been located. Police officers are offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the killer.
This shooting occurred just three days after 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins of Chicago was shot and killed while getting her diaper changed in a minivan. No witnesses have come forward with any information in that case.
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