A 22-year-old mother of five children was killed early Saturday in a drive-by shooting after a bullet bounced off her infant’s crib and fatally struck her.
Star-Telegram reports that paramedics rushed 22-year-old Victoria DeLeon to the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth after stray bullets struck her in the chest and abdomen. Sadly, the mom passed away a little after 3:40 a.m on Saturday morning.
Neighbors reported hearing around three to four gun shots on the early morning in question, coming from outside of the 2700 block of Burchill Road. According to DeLeon’s mother, Josie, the victim immediately picked up her 1-year-old baby and cuddled the infant while waiting on medical help.
I never thought I would be making a post like this. No words can express the loss of a child. My thoughts and… https://t.co/JCdD8Dq0AE
— Michael Hinderliter (@M_Hinderliter) September 9, 2017
“Once she got shot, she rose up and grabbed the baby. She held the [1-year-old] baby until they came for her….She got hit by two bullets. One went through the air conditioning unit and hit her in the chest and the other ricocheted off the baby’s crib and hit her in the side.”
Josie said she doesn’t think the bullets were intended for her daughter, but nevertheless, the five children are now living without their mother. Josie said she’s in the process of filing paperwork to get guardianship of the children.
A neighbor indicated that the area was once quiet, but within the past year, drive-by shootings occurred on at least three different occasions.
Detectives aren’t sure why DeLeon’s house was targeted, but anyone with any information should contact authorities immediately.
“She seemed like she was the innocent person in this,” the neighbor added. “But something like this was bound to happen.”
[Feature Photo: Family Handout]
