DETROIT – Last September a gunman stormed into a home on Detroit's west side fatally shooting 5-year-old Isabella Coleman and injuring her mother Dejiza Coleman who was shot 17 times.
Since the tragedy church leaders, a youth group and neighbors raised thousands to rebuild the home where it happened. The first step in a lifelong commitment to Izzy's project. The home has been transformed into a refuge for other young mother's and their children.
- Isabella Coleman and her mother, Dejiza Coleman, were both shot in Sept. 2018. Dejiza Coleman survived, Isabella did not.
- A man walked into the home on Lyndon Street and started shooting at the pair while they were in bed.
- Family and friends were devastated by what police described as an "execution-style shooting" of 5-year-old Isabella Coleman.
- Police said the motive behind the shooting was a well-known sibling rivalry between Coleman and her sister.
- The killer has not yet been caught.
"Through tragedy we will triumph," pastor Semmeal Thomas with City Covenant Church said.
City Covenant Church members, the Brightmoore community and Young Life spent the last year rebuilding the home. They had to redo floors, repaint and replace a furnace and water heater.
Dejiza spent a few hours back in the home after it had been finished.
"I think it helped Dasia with closure and now to see it be a beacon," Thomas said.
Her daughter's legacy will live on as a resource for children and young mothers.