It's a dark day in this country when we lose a 6 month old beautiful, innocent baby girl to gun violence. Heartache and outrage swept over Chicagoland as the news of baby Jonylah spread across the city beginning late Monday afternoon. It happened on the South side of Chicago, where gun violence is not a stranger.
Sadly, despite a 17 hour "incessant battle" Monday afternoon, with doctors, nurses and medical technicians fighting to save her life, little innocent 6 month old Jonylah Watkins didn't survive. She had sustained five gun shot wounds while her dad, Jonathan Watkins, changed her diaper in their minivan. The intended target was the father.
Why isn't anyone talking?
The father also sustained gun shot wounds and is recovering at Northwestern Hospital, still listed in serious condition. He is aware that his little girl didn't survive. "I was trying to help. I was trying to help. I was trying to help her," Jonathan said after finding out that doctors couldn't save his daughter. "They told me she didn't make it."
But, don't let the pleas quoted above let you think that the daddy was an innocent victim, as well.
Police are saying that the incident had "very strong gang overtones", because the father was known to be involved in a gang and has a long criminal history. They are also saying that Jonathan Watkins is not cooperating with authorities in order to help apprehend his little baby girl's killer.
The investigation is still open and no shooter has been apprehended at this point in time, but the shooter was seen on a surveillance video jumping into a blue conversion van as it drove off, and Chicago police are asking people to step forward with more information so that they can serve justice to the killer that took the life of baby Jonylah. There was also an alleged post on Facebook threatening Jonathan Watkins that investigators are trying to verify, but it's highly unlikely that this post would still be live on the web, considering the fact that someone has already followed through on the threat.
But, no one is coming forward! Even the daddy won't say a word. By now, there should be sketches of the suspect circulating across the country and a manhunt for the killer!
People who don't understand how gangs work will surely be confused as to why no one will come forward about this crime. I believe that the father knows good and well who the shooter was, so why won't he tell police?
This is why: In the world of gangs, you "handle business" on your own. You don't involve the cops. So, he most likely plans to "take care" of the shooter himself once he recovers and is back out on the streets. It was even announced that police flooded the neighborhood on the evening of baby Jonylah's shooting in an effort to try to prevent any retaliatory attacks. How could there be "retaliatory attacks" if no one knows who the shooter was?
Of course, any parent would want to brutally take the life of the person who killed their baby girl. That's human nature. I know that I would want to play out the whole "eye for an eye" thing if someone killed my baby girl. But, that's not okay in our society, and what kind of parent wouldn't want police to be able to arrest and convict the person that killed their child in cold blood?
The only answer that can be assumed in this insanity is that the father is waiting until he can take down the shooter himself. That's how gangs work.
Poor Jonylah didn't stand a chance in the first place with a father involved in gang relations. Mary Young, baby Jonylah's grandmother, said that when Jonylah's mother was pregnant with her, she was shot in the knee. This incident, alone, would make anyone want to walk away from the gang life, however, if you know anything about gangs, you know that you can never leave once you're in them.
On Tuesday morning, the neighborhood started a makeshift memorial (seen above) that started off with a couple of balloons and stuffed animals, but has quickly grown into a beautiful remembrance of the life that was so sadly ripped from our world.
