A little 1-year-old baby girl was shot and killed on her way home from the a New Orleans park on Thursday, NBC News reports.
Londyn Samuels, 1, died in the arms of her 18-year-old nanny, who was also shot but is expected to survive. The woman called baby Londyn's father, 20-year-old Keion Reed, right after the tragic shooting occurred.
"She said, 'Kee, we got shot - me and Londyn,'" Reed told NBC News. Funeral arraignments were made for Saturday for the little girl.
Reed said the death of his daughter has left a big hole in his heart.
"She just loved being around me and her mama. She was our world, you know? She was the highlight of every day," Londyn's father said. "She was always happy. When I was down, she would crawl in the bed with me and say, 'Dada,' and hit me in the face to make me smile."
Londyn was struck by a bullet fired into the nanny's back, according to officials.
"What kind of a man would shoot at a woman holding a child?" Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas said Friday to news reporters, asking for witnesses to come forward. "That's not the kind of person you want to protect."
Andrea Samuels, Londyn's mother, told reporters she breaks down in tears every time she sees photos of her daughter.
"I'm hurt, because that was my baby," Samuels, 22, said.
Authorities are attempting to locate two suspects seen running from the shooting. According to NBC News, police did not provide a motive for the shooting, but it was reportedly not a gunfight.
"We think the neighborhood knows who they are," Serpas said, adding that only one tip had come into CrimeStoppers despite a $5,000 reward.
New Orleans' murder rate may be down, but Mayor Mitch Landrieu says gun violence needs to end.
"When a young man kills a child in the arms of an 18-year-old, we have to take it to a new level," he said. "The shooting has got to stop."
