INKSTER, Mich. – Little Kamiya Gross told her mom exactly what she wanted for her birthday. She would have turned 3 years old in just 10 days.
"She wanted to have her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's house, to be exact," said her mom, Erica Gross. "She wanted all her cousins, all her aunties, uncles, her brothers and her sisters, she wanted everybody to be there."
Gross dropped Kamiya off with the girl's father about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. She was headed to work her shift at a group home. Kamiya was left with her father, Kenneth French, her grandmother and a group of friends.
Just before 8:30 p.m., a gunman ran up to Kamiya and shot her in her right eye. Sources say the gunman wanted to send a message to the girl's father before shooting him in the stomach.
Running away, the gunman fired another shot which struck 12-year-old Chelsea Lancaster, who is a family friend. Two Inkster police officers grabbed little Kamiya, put her in their car and rushed her to a hospital.
Gross got the call at work to get to the hospital. When she arrived she got the worst news of her life, she said.
"Oh, my heart is broken! My heart is gone. I'm a young mother. Those were the best two years of my life and it's taken away from me," she said.
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-- Erica and Kamiya Gross
Man, girl both hospitalized
French, 34, remains hospitalized in stable condition while Chelsea Lancaster is in critical condition.
-- Chelsea Lancaster
-- Kenneth French
State police have suspect in custody
Michigan State Police said Wednesday morning they have a suspect in custody. They said more details about the suspect would be released at a later time.
They are searching for the getaway driver.
Inkster police seek to end violence
Inkster police held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to address the latest senseless violence in the city. They are determined to solve this crime and make the city safer.
"I want to make it clear to all of the wanna-be thugs, hoodlums, drug pushers that we're gonna get you, we're gonna lock you up and we're gonna put you in jail," said Inkster Police Chief Hilton Napoleon. "Now is the time for us to get stronger and be together, and we have done that."
Chief Hilton Napoleon has made a plea for more help from the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, which happens to be headed by his brother, Sheriff Benny Napoleon.