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'Everybody Loved' Takiya Holmes, 11-Year-Old Killed By Stray Bullet

By  Sam Cholke and Andrea V. Watson | February 14, 2017 10:33am | Updated on February 14, 2017 2:09pm

 Takiya Holmes, 11, was shot in her head Saturday night as she sat in a car in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.
Takiya Holmes, 11, was shot in her head Saturday night as she sat in a car in the Grand Crossing neighborhood.
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Courtesy of Assata's Daughters

CHICAGO — The 11-year-old girl who was shot Saturday in the 6500 block of South King Drive has died from her wounds, her family said Tuesday.

Takiya Holmes, the cousin of anti-violence activist Andrew Holmes, was sitting in a car at 7:40 p.m. when shots were fired, police said.

She was hit in her head and taken to Comer Children's Hospital in critical condition. She was on life support before her death.

RELATED: GIRLS, AGES 11 AND 12 SHOT IN HEAD IN SEPARATE ATTACKS SATURDAY

"At 8:17 this morning Takiya passed away in her mother's arms. Thank you for all the #prayers4kiya,” said cousin Rachel Rae-Williams on Facebook.

Patsy Holmes, Takiya's grandmother, said at a Tuesday morning news conference at Comer that her granddaughter was "beautiful, loving and smart" and that "everybody loved her."

She said the family has been getting updates on the police investigation from the media.

“We have to protect our children; the children are the ones that are getting caught by stray bullets," she said.

Holmes said her "prayers are going out to [the] family” of the 12-year-old shot the same night, Kanari Bowers, who was playing on the playground at Henderson elementary when she was shot, according to ABC7.

“Hopefully, she can pull though,” she said.

Andrew Holmes said in an interview that it was a difficult night for the family at the hospital as tests were done to try to save Takiya.

"We always kept our head up, trying to stay positive and hope for a miracle," Andrew Holmes said.

He said Takiya's death has been particularly hard on some members of his family.

"We've got to look at the health and wellness of the mothers and grandmothers, who are taking this real hard," Andrew Holmes said.

He said his family is still trying to explain Takiya's death to other children in the family.

"It's tough; you have to sit them down and talk to them, because they're going through some post-traumatic stress," Andrew Holmes said.

He said he hopes someone from the neighborhood comes forward to identify the shooter because the violence, though it's not as bad as it was in the 1980s or '90s, often feels more dangerous.

"[Shooters] are so quick to do it now," Andrew Holmes said. "With social media, there's so much hate. All they want to do is go out and shoot."

He said he hopes the community is getting fed up with the violence.

There will be a community rally at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at 65th Street and Martin Luther King Drive with the Holmes family and Grand Crossing District police officers asking people to support the family and help police find the person who shot Takiya.

Andrew Holmes predicted arrests would be made.

Williams said the murder of her cousin has shaken her beliefs.

"What happened with my baby Kiya is testing my faith as a prison abolitionist. Because all I want is for them to pay. Not just for her, but Kanari as well,” she wrote on Facebook.