An eight-months-pregnant model was shot and killed while sitting in a parked car in Southeast Washington, though her baby miraculously survived.
Samya Gill, 22, of Fort Washington, Maryland, died at a local hospital after two assault-rifle-wielding gunmen drove up in a white sedan and sprayed at least 14 bullets into the vehicle just before midday Thursday.
The gunmen then drove off from the site — a McDonald’s in the 300 block of 37th Street Southeast — in the same vehicle.
The child’s father, whom authorities did not name, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Gill’s baby, a girl, was delivered shortly afterward via an emergency C-section.
Gill’s mother told TV station WJLA, the local ABC affiliate, on Friday that her grandchild, named Zailey, was not hit by any of the bullets but remains in critical condition.
The woman, whom WJLA did not name, said she will raise the child. She set up a GoFundMe that had raised about $10,000 by Sunday evening.
“She’s beautiful I went to go see her last night and she’s just gorgeous,” the now grandmother said.
She said that besides being a model, Gill had had an online clothing boutique but had shut it down recently to focus on the imminent delivery of her child.
“I just thing she was in the car — wrong place, wrong time,” she said. “I’m crushed, I’m devastated of course. I’m lost, I’ve been all over the place.”
D.C. Police Assistant Chief Andre Wright appealed for information from witnesses on what he called a “brazen attack.”
“While none of these groups of folks are directly involved, we do believe that you can’t do something as heinous as this and the community not know something,” he said.
Police have footage of the attack.
“This video was of great quality and so I’m confident that when this goes out into the community that we will get calls that will enable us to further this case and inevitably close it,” Assistant Chief Wright said before the weekend.
The Metropolitan Police Department is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the suspects.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.