Officials identify 24-year-old mother killed in Strawberry Mansion triple shooting
Chaundrah Jones is the 406th homicide victim of the year.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Police have identified the 24-year-old woman killed during a triple shooting that left two others in critical condition Wednesday morning.
Authorities say Chaundrah Jones had just left the 7 Star Lounge on the 2600 block W. Sergeant Street around 2:30 a.m. when at least two gunmen approached the vehicle she was riding in.
Jones and the other two victims were followed about a mile away from the bar where she was shot twice and pronounced dead at the intersection on North 33rd and West Diamond streets.
Bullet holes were seen in the car door and shattered glass on the street.
Jones' grandmother says she has no idea how the 24-years-old, known affectionately as 'Smalls,' could fit so much energy into her tiny frame.
"There was nothing small about Chaundrah but the name Smalls. She was a big, big person in a little body," said grandmother Saundrah Atwell.
Investigators say they believe the victims were targeted, but at this point, the motive remains unknown.
During Philadelphia's biweekly violence hearing Wednesday, Mayor Jim Kenney admitted he is haunted by the violence ravaging the community.
"I remember two nights ago when we hit 400. I didn't sleep the whole evening. I looked at the ceiling on my back that entire night and tried to figure out how we fix this," said Kenney.
Police say overall they have confiscated 4,475 guns with 1,973 arrests related to those guns. But the Philadelphia residency requirement adds difficulties to police recruitment as staffing issues heavily impact the department.
Jones is the 406th homicide victim of the year.
But her family will not remember her as another person lost to the streets of Philadelphia, but rather a beautiful soul who lost her life far too early.
"I never thought in a million years that one of my kids will be gone before I'm gone," said Jones' father, Samuel Willians.
The other two women involved, ages 32 and 26, remain hospitalized in critical condition.
Jones leaves behind two little boys: a three-year-old and a seven-month-old.
Anyone with any information on this shooting is asked to call police at 215-686-TIPS.
