A backfiring car near a memorial for a Bronx murder victim may have sparked a shooting that left an innocent 5-year-old girl wounded, the child’s devastated mom told the Daily News.
Zamayia Miles was sitting in her father’s gold Nissan outside her home near E. 214th St. and Holland Ave. Friday when a silver Volkswagen Jetta backfired, doting mom Shanise Miles recalled.
“Our friend was revving his car. He was showing off,” Shanise, 24, said. “The backfire sounded like shots, so they started shooting at us.”
A stray shot hit Zamayia in the back as bedlam erupted outside the makeshift vigil for murder victim Justin Rodriguez, 26. The memorial was decorated with balloons and flickering candles.
Miles, her husband and Zamayia live near where Rodriguez had set up the memorial.
Zamayia’s father, who was behind the wheel, immediately sped off to avoid the bullets, but didn’t go far. He stopped outside a laundromat a short distance away and ran out of the car with his bleeding daughter in his arms.
“Please! Please! Help! Help!” the father screamed, witness Zoila Peguero recalled.
“It was really shocking — oh my God, he was going crazy,” said Peguero. “(He was screaming) My daughter! My daughter! She’s shot!”
Zamayia was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center, where she’s on the mend, her mother said. No other injuries were reported.
“She’s aware of what’s going on. And thankfully she is now stable,” Miles said. “This shouldn’t have happened to her. I’m devastated.”
Witnesses said that at least six shots were fired.
“They were showing love to a guy who had just passed,” said a witness who declined to give her name. “Two cars pulled up and pow, pow, pow, there was shooting.”
While witnesses told police that the gunman fled in a car, Miles recalled seeing the triggerman running off on foot.
No arrests have been made.
The memorial marked a shooting at E. 213th St. and Holland Ave. at 12:30 a.m. Thursday that took Rodriguez’s life.
here
Leave a Reply