Sandra Parks: A 13-year-old gun student killed by a stray bullet

"We are in a state of chaos, in the city where I live, hear and see examples of chaos almost every day, and little children are victims of senseless gun violence. .. "

Two years ago, Sandra Parks, an 11-year-old schoolgirl from Milwaukee, wrote these words in an award-winning essay on murders committed in her city.

Monday night, at the age of 13, she was hit by a stray bullet in her home.

Her frantic family called 911, but Sandra died on the spot.

The girl's mother, Bernice Parks, told the police that she had gone to bed early while her children were watching television. She awoke to the sound of the shots shortly before 8:00 pm and found her daughter bleeding on the floor.

"She said," Mom, I'm getting shot. Call the police, "said Ms. Parks at WITI TV." I watched it. She did not cry. She was not screaming. She was so peaceful … She did not deserve to leave this world like this. "

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Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett called the situation "foolish", telling reporters: "Tragically, his death was caused by someone who just decided to shoot in his house and died. 13, Thanksgiving week, a school night, in her room and she is dead. "

Mr. Barrett speculated that the shooter might have wanted to "settle a point, express his anger, try to scare someone," declaring Tuesday: "All we know, it's that a 13-year-old boy died in the bedroom that night. "

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, published in the Midwest, reports that a suspect, Isaac D. Barnes, has been charged with homicide and that another man, Untrell Oden, faces two counts for allegedly helped protect two guns.

Mr. Barnes' ex-girlfriend reportedly reported his possible involvement to a police officer on the scene. She said that he had approached his car parked in a nearby street with an assault rifle and a mask.

She said that he insulted her and told her, "You are lucky that the kids are in the car, I was going to cheer you up."

The police found Mr. Barnes in a nearby house, hidden in a closet.

"She was all that this world is not"

Sandra was a student at Keefe Avenue School and her essay – titled "Our Truth" – won third place in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. writing contest at Milwaukee Public Schools.

She spoke on Wisconsin Public Radio in January 2017, saying that she aspired to "put an end to all the violence and … the negativity that is going on."

"All you hear is someone who dies and someone who gets shot.People do not just think of their father, son, granddaughter or their grandson who has just been killed, "she said.

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Mrs. Parks told the Milwaukee newspaper, Sentinel, that her daughter was "all that this world is not".

"My baby was not violent, my baby did not like violence," she said. "Everyone she knew, everyone who passed, she made them happy."

According to Milwaukee Public Schools, Sandra is the seventh child of a district school to be murdered in 2018.

During a vigil in front of his house Tuesday night, his mother in mourning acknowledged this grim record.

"I understand that many children have died recently and I would not say that my baby was better than the others," she said.

"But God, Jesus, Lord, have mercy on us …

"Lord, have mercy on me, it was a star who was trying to go out, but she did not know how."