Family, Friends Mourn Baby’s Death in Drive-By Shooting

Kylah Morse was resting in her mother’s arms when the man in a passing car sprayed their Compton street with assault weapon fire. The 10-month-old girl, who was just showing her first baby teeth, was shot in the head and killed.

On Sunday, neighbors and family members gathered on the bloodstained sidewalk where the attack occurred the day before, recounting what happened and asking themselves why.

Desiree Witrago, 16, was raising Kylah while going to school, and had just strolled onto the street Saturday about 3:15 p.m. when three Latino men reportedly approached in a white car.

Witnesses said one pulled out an assault rifle and unleashed a torrent of gunfire that continued until the car had passed well beyond the apartment building on East Cypress Street.

“There were kids playing here, playing there,” said a 30-year-old man, who asked that his name be withheld. “It was just random. You could never see it coming.”

He said he dove to the ground when he heard the jackhammer sound of the rifle. As the firing continued, he looked up to see Witrago standing up, hunched over her baby and crying. He yanked her to the ground, but Kylah was already dead.

No arrests have been made, but Compton police say they have strong leads, including a “vivid description of the car and suspects,” officials said.

Francesca Acevedo was washing the dishes when the bullets tore through her wall Saturday afternoon. One ripped a ragged hole in the drywall above her spice rack. Five others exploded through her window, leaving spider web cracks. The 42-year-old mother was struck by glass as she dove to the floor. When the shooting stopped, she ran outside to a scene that she will never forget.

“The mother was running and screaming, ‘My baby is dead!’ ” said Acevedo, tearing up at the image. “There is no reason for this.”

Acevedo went to the hospital for her injuries. Another woman was shot in the leg. Both were released Sunday.

On Sunday morning, passersby dropped flowers and votive candles on the sidewalk, as others gathered there, staring off and speaking intermittently.

Witrago’s family said the young mother was still getting over the loss of her 30-year-old brother, who was killed last August in Compton. And now on Sunday, she had to tell the family of Kylah’s father what had happened.

The father is in prison but loved his little girl, the family said.

“She was such a happy baby,” said Penny Morales, Kylah’s grandmother. “She was just starting to walk. When she’d stand up by herself, she’d start clapping for herself.

Witrago was in a state of shock Sunday, “trying to pretend [Kylah’s] just away for now. She’s at her other grandma’s.”

Morales said the shooter probably was aiming at some young men in the group and was not targeting the women and baby. She said she couldn’t believe someone could open fire on people he didn’t know, just to get someone else. She noted that the bullet holes were spread all over the front of the building-- both floors--with no apparent rhyme or reason.

“The rifle was probably too powerful for the kid doing the shooting so he probably just lost control,” she said.