Welp, looks like the victims are getting younger and younger in Chicago. Yep, if the following story doesn’t make you sick, then I don’t know what will. Of course this shooting isn’t going to be used for political expediency to gain support for new gun control laws. In fact, I’d be shocked if this story makes it anywhere near Capitol Hill, or even the White House. Which is unfortunate, because from all appearances, the circumstances surrounding this shooting — at least from news reports — point to the central issue that is gun violence in urban communities like Chicago.
This from Chicago’s WLS 7:
The 6-month-old, who relatives identified as Johnyla Watkins, was shot multiple times and transported to Comer Children’s Hospital in serious to critical condition with gunshot wounds to her arm and leg. Watkins was in surgery around 4 p.m. and her chances of recovery were not known.
[…] There were conflicting reports as to the nature of the shooting. Police said it was a drive-by shooting, but relatives say a gunman approached the victims on foot and fired multiple shots before running away.
[…] Reportedly, the baby and father were together on their way to pick up the baby’s mother from her job at McDonald’s. The mother was in the hospital around 4 p.m. with family members awaiting word on whether the baby would recover from her injuries.
When I first heard this story yesterday afternoon, it was my hope that she would survive her wounds. But unfortunately, as has often been the case in the streets of Chicago, Johnyla Watkins, will now be counted among the dead. Her name may never come from the lips of our politicians engaged in the gun control debate — as are many nameless victims of gun violence — but dying at her age as a victim of violence is unacceptable.
Jonylah Watkins, a 6-month-old baby girl, who was shot five times on Chicago’s South Side on Monday, died in the hospital on Tuesday, despite desperate efforts to save her young life.
[…] Jonylah’s father, Jonathan Watkins, had been changing her diaper in the front passenger seat of a Chevy mini-van when a gunman approached the vehicle and starting shooting. The assailant then fled in a waiting car.
Jonylah had sustained wounds in her lung, liver, leg, shoulder and bowel or intestine, according to DNAinfo Chicago. She underwent at least five hours of emergency surgery at Comer Children’s Hospital Monday before finally succumbing to her injuries Tuesday morning.
[…] In another shocking part of this story, Jonylah’s mother, Judy Watkins, had been previously shot while carrying the child. She was working at McDonald’s at the time of the shooting, according to the Tribune. (source)
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