The horrific shooting death of a 7-month-old baby caught on camera in Philadelphia was sparked by a simple $100 drug debt, police say.
Dominic Billips, 28, was arrested the day after a woman was captured on video opening fire on a baby and its parents outside a home, yelling “I’m going to kill your baby, you bitch!” as the teen’s mother screamed in terror.
“Sometimes it’s amazing what we see,” Lt. Gov. Dennis Rosenbaum said at a news conference. According to USA Today.
“Why would you go up to someone with a stroller and shoot them if you knew they had a stroller?” Rosenbaum asked about the “deeply disturbing” attack.
When police arrived to investigate reports of a shooting Thursday, the victims had already left.
A police spokesman said it was only when the family rushed them to a local hospital that they realised the baby had been shot in the leg, and they told police the shocking assault was over a $100 “drug debt.”
“The parents left the area because they were afraid of police due to outstanding warrants for their arrest,” Rosenbaum said.
The baby’s father is believed to have been the killer’s target, and the mother and baby “just got caught up in it,” Rosenbaum said.
“If you watch the video, you can see she actually points the gun at the baby’s mother (who is a minor) and fires it. Luckily, she misses,” Rosenbaum said.
“A 7-month-old baby isn’t going to remember that, but the story will live on forever. The story will live on forever,” Rosenbaum said of the baby who was later released from the hospital.
Billips was identified as the victim in an earlier shooting. She was taken into custody without incident on Friday and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm.
