KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Tuesday night family, friends, police and community activists will gather at a Kansas City, Kansas church to remember a 10-year-old girl who was shot and killed inside her home.
The prayer vigil for Machole Stewart is set to take place at Forest Grove Baptist Church, and is expected to start at 6 p.m. A huge crowd is also expected to turn out to remember the little girl and pray that police catch her killer.
Kansas City, Kansas police said Stewart was an innocent victim of a drive-by shooting Sunday night.
On Tuesday, it had been two days since the incident took place and police are still looking for the shooter, whom they say was in a black SUV when he drove by and fired more than a dozen bullets into the Stewart family’s home and then sped away.
“We do not want people who murder our children in our community,” said AdHoc Against Violence member Nae-na Oliver. “We’re not going to stand for it so at this point it’s in your best interest to do what is right.”
Police are still trying to figure out why and determine who the intended target was. Stewart, who was playing games and watching TV, got hit in her head and died instantly.
The mother of Angel Hooper, another little girl who was killed in a drive-by shooting less than two weeks ago, came to the vigil to support the family.
“My heart just dropped because I know they saw what happened to Angel and they probably thought it would never happen to them and just a week later it happened to this family,” Charity Guinn said.
The girl’s grieving grandmothers say they’re still praying police will soon catch their granddaughter’s killer.
“My granddaughter’s gone! She’s gone! She can never come back. She can never come back. You took my granddaughter away from me, away from everybody! Everybody loved Machole Stewart and she’s gone now. She’s gone. You would feel the same way I feel if it was your relatives, your loved ones,” Krystal Stewart told FOX 4’s Robert Townsend during a tearful interview Tuesday afternoon.
Krystal Stewart was the young victim’s paternal grandmother.
“We all are feeling this tremendous loss and we are praying that whoever killed our Machole will be caught real soon,” said an angry Kimberly Blackmon, Machole Stewart’s maternal grandmother.
Police say so far they have received hundreds of calls, but right now they don’t have solid leads in this case, which is why they’re urging any witnesses to come forward.
Funeral services for the little girl haven’t been set.