Two people lost their lives to gun violence that ensued after a fight took place at a Brooklyn house party on May 17.
Miles Bobbsemple was fatally shot, and a friend of the slaughtered man, Shalimar Birkett, was killed at his vigil just hours following the incident.
According to The Daily News, the 32-year-old mother of two was attending the memorial for her friend who was killed the night before in Brownsville when two gunmen pulled up in a white sedan and opened fire before speeding off through Brooklyn streets. Bobbsemple was also an innocent victim.
Bobbsemple’s mother-in-law, Maria Grant, said of his tragic death, “It’s a terrible thing. He was a very good man.”
“It’s like a nightmare,” Birkett’s mother Patricia Hamilton told the Daily News. “She was an outgoing, fun person, loved by everyone — all her friends and family.”
“Why?” Birkett’s mother asked. “Why you had to come shoot and kill my daughter? She was just there.”
Police speculated that Birkett was most likely not the target of the shooting. The killing pointed to a gang-related shooting.
“It was about 60 to 70 people out here for the vigil,” said Justin Dee, who lives on the block said. “It was nice and quiet, and people were starting to leave.”
“A car pulled up on the corner, and they started shooting,” he added. “They started shooting down the block, not caring who they hit.”
“You could see the sparks come out of the windows,” Dee continued. “It was nine or 10 shots. They just about emptied the clip.”
“She was shot in the head just lying there,” he said of Birkett. “A guy was over her saying, ‘Stay with me, stay with me.’ But it was nothing you could do.”
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Paramedics rushed Birkett to Brookdale University Hospital, where she died approximately 40 minutes later.
Stretch Pixon, a neighbor to the house where the party happened, said, “To tell you the truth, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later,”
“When the guy got shot, everybody jumped over the fence … I just heard a woman screaming, ‘Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!’”
No arrests have been made in either murder.
