A Missouri mother was fatally shot in front of her children Tuesday evening after police and relatives say she was caught in the crossfire between two groups outside a gas station.
Shakeela Martin, described by her family as a “devoted mother to five children,” had stopped at a BP station in Ferguson on June 28 to buy slushies with her kids when gunfire erupted, according to an online fundraiser created by relatives.
The 35-year-old had been purchasing the frozen treats to mark a special moment for her family: they were set to move into a new home the next day.
“What should have been a joyful family moment became an unimaginable tragedy,” Martin’s cousin, Whittley Anderson, wrote on the fundraising page.
“Shakeela was a devoted mother to five beautiful children who were at the center of her world. She was full of love, strength, and hope for the future.”
A female friend who was with Martin and her children at the gas station told local outlet 5 On Your Side that several men arrived at the BP and began firing at another group of men before fleeing the scene.
The friend said she heard at least 10 shots before realizing Martin had been struck.
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Martin was shot in the head and died in front of her children, leaving her family and community devastated.
Police say another innocent bystander, a male customer, was also shot in the crossfire and is in critical condition, the outlet reported.
“It was just senseless. It’s so surreal,” Anderson told the outlet.
“How can a woman go to the store, get slushies for her kids and end up dying,” the grief-stricken relative said.
“These kids now have to live with this until they’re old and it will never go away. It will never leave our family.”
Martin’s 8-year-old niece told the outlet that her aunt “was pretty” and “kind” who gave her “lots of treats.”
“I cried because I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye and I didn’t know that she was gonna die,” the young girl said.
Martin leaves behind her five children, aged 3, 4, 9, 11 and 15.
“She was just a sweet mom, a sweet daughter and a wonderful sister,” Anderson painstakingly said.
