Mom wants justice for daughter allegedly shot by 9-year-old boy

BALTIMORE (WJZ) - A Baltimore mother is grieving the loss of her 15-year-old daughter, whom police say was shot by a 9-year-old boy allegedly playing with a loaded handgun.

Mother Nykerah Strawder is devastated after her 15-year-old daughter, Nykayla Strawder, was shot in the head Saturday on her porch in the Edmondson Village neighborhood.

“I hear it: ‘Boom!’ It shook my house. It shook my soul. I look over to the left. I see her laying there. I don’t see the blood at this time. I go to her. I said, ‘Kayla… wake up,’” she said.

Nykayla was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

“I gotta speak for her. I gotta be her voice. I got to let the world know that my daughter was everything to me. She was everything. I watched what I formed in my womb leave her body,” Strawder said.

Police say the person who pulled the trigger was a 9-year-old boy. Witnesses told investigators the boy was playing with a loaded handgun when it accidentally discharged.

He will not face charges because of his age.

Under a new Maryland juvenile justice law, children under the age of 13 can’t be charged with a crime. Anyone younger than 10 is outside the jurisdiction of juvenile courts.

“This is a child that was able to get to a Glock and shoot my baby right in the head on her porch. My soul, my heart knows that this is not right. This is no accident,” Strawder said.

Police say their investigation into how the boy was able to obtain the weapon remains open. The gun was registered to a relative of his who works as a security guard.

While the boy can’t legally be charged, detectives are working with the state attorney’s office to determine whether any charges will be handed down.

“I just want my daughter to get the justice that she deserves. I don’t want her to have to look down upon what’s going on right now and say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m another statistic in my city. I ain’t getting no justice,’” Strawder said.

Police records show that Nykayla is the fifth teenager to be shot and killed in Edmondson Village within the past year.

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