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'My baby was shot at home': Valley family hopes for justice and peace after young girl's shooting

Ayana Sinclair's daughter was one of two kids shot Thursday night in a senseless act of gun violence.

PHOENIX — For Ayana Sinclair, it was supposed to be like any other evening.

She picked up her kids and went home. Her eldest daughter asked to go outside and hang out with kids steps away from her front door. 

"I hear [gunshots],” Sinclair said. 

The weapon fired into a group of kids outside her door. 

Sinclair said child after child ran inside her apartment, including her 11-year-old daughter.

“She is like 'I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding, I'm bleeding,'" Sinclair said. 

Her daughter was shot multiple times in the leg. Another child, Michelle Russell’s son, had a bullet graze his head.

Both survived and escaped any major injuries, thankfully. 

“Why would you open fire on a group of kids?” Sinclair said. "My baby was shot at home, minding her business."

“We almost lost two kids to senseless gun violence,” Russell said.

Senseless violence has become all too common nearby. 

Since 2016, in Sinclair’s zipcode - 85040 - there have been more than 1,800 cases of violent crime, according to a Phoenix police database.

Over that time period, there have been at least 35 murders, 122 rapes, 489 robberies, and 1,181 aggravated assaults. 

“I can’t pick up and move us tomorrow if I wanted to,” Sinclair said. 

Sinclair would move but says she does not have the money. 

She is a family caught in a crossfire and says she does not feel safe. 

 “When I'm carrying my daughter to and from the car, I'm looking over my shoulder, I'm looking around,” Sinclair said. 

Sinclair wants the shooters to be held responsible, but she mainly wants to get her family to safety. She plans to move out of her apartment complex and move. She is trying to raise money to help with the move. 

If you would like to help, you can donate to the family's GoFundMe account.

VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: 'Le dispararon a mi bebé en casa': Una familia del Valle espera justicia y paz después de que les dispararon a unos niños

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