Police in Houston are investigating the death of a teenager, just one day shy of her 20th birthday, after she was killed inside her apartment in a drive-by shooting.
Kendra Childs –a mother to a one-year-old daughter – was found in the apartment by her boyfriend, who had just come home from work around noon on Tuesday. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Houston Police Department.
According to ABC 13, witnesses told cops a Camaro with tinted windows stopped by the Uvalde Ranch complex where Childs lived and opened fire, aiming at the second-level apartment wall. The gunman never came inside the apartment, police said.
“Witnesses reported seeing a black newer model Camaro with standard rims and tinted windows drive by the house and fire multiple rounds,” Mark Holdbrook with the Houston Police Department homicide unit said.
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A man and a woman were reportedly inside the car. Family and friends of the 19 year old believe she was targeted.
“I feel very broken, and it just hurt because she didn’t deserve to go like this. I understand it was her time, but she didn’t have to go like this. She didn’t even make it to her birthday tomorrow,” Childs’ cousin Angel Whitaker said.
Police have yet to identify the suspects, but social media users have offered speculation, posting tweets and photos that allegedly belong to an ex-girlfriend of Childs’ boyfriend.
She really plotted her death on Twitter. Bless the kid that has to grow without a mother bc of jealousy #ripkendra pic.twitter.com/gPlBtlRUND
— E (@esheikh_) September 14, 2016
Relationship goes wrong…move on. U aren't happy…move on. Don't waste lives over stupidity. Now an innocent girl has no mom #ripkendra
— Drew Ryan Scott (@drewryanscott) September 14, 2016
Today was her 20th birthday. #RIPKendra pic.twitter.com/VGxZC1tEnN
— Black Misty Day 🌙 (@girlswithtoys) September 14, 2016
On Wednesday, a tip led police to the intersection of Noah and Scott St. where they found a black Camaro. They have not yet confirmed if it was the vehicle involved in the shooting.