A Chicago mother and her baby girl were shot early Thursday while they slept in their family's West Pullman home, police said.
Tonishia Allen, 24, and her 1-year-old daughter, Jaliyah Allen, were asleep in a back bedroom when shots were fired around 1:20 a.m. into the home in the 11900 block South Calumet Avenue, police said. Jaliyah was struck in the head.
Tina Cornell, Jaliyah's grandmother, said she woke up to the sounds of two gunshots. That's when she found her daughter on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to the leg. She then ran to find her granddaughter.
"I went into the room to check on the baby," Cornell said. "When I picked her up, I felt wet, something wet dripping out. When I picked her up, she was bleeding from her head. I called 911. That's basically all I know. I don't know why it happened."
Omiah Newman, the baby's grandfather, said the bullets came through the side of the house into the bedroom.
"I heard two shots. I thought I was dreaming and then I heard our daughter scream so we jumped out of bed," Newman said.
This is the latest devastation for the family. Newman said Tonishia Allen's sister was gunned down during a robbery at 87th and Cottage Grove on August 9, 2007.
"We already lost a daughter to violence, and it seems this thing has come back to haunt us again," he said.
The family on Thursday waited for word as baby Jaliyah underwent surgery at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Tonishia Allen, shot in the leg, was said to be in good condition.
