ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — The mother of a 10-year-old girl who died as a result of a drive-by shooting Tuesday in Carter County says she doesn’t understand why someone would shoot up her home.
Lillyhanna Davis was lying on a couch when a bullet passed through the wall and fatally struck her early Tuesday morning on Blevins Road.
“I heard my husband hollering for her and we ran in there and my baby was gone,” said Mary Davis, Lillyhanna’s mother. “You don’t ever want to wake up to your baby and all you see is blood.”
“They took an innocent baby’s life. She didn’t deserve this. No one deserved this.”
The Carter County Sheriff’s office is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. Investigators released a photo of the vehicle they believe was involved in the shooting.
Sheriff Dexter Lunceford believes it wasn’t a random shooting, but Davis told News Channel 11’s Anslee Daniel that she doesn’t know why someone would target her family.
“I couldn’t imagine why someone would shoot up a trailer that has kids in it, a family in it,” she said. “She died in her sleep. She did nothing wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong.”
Davis said Lillyhanna was a great student at Central Elementary School who hated making bad grades or having to miss school. She described her daughter as a mature kid who helped around the house, loved playing with her brothers, and looked forward to growing up.
“She wanted to be a teenager so bad ever since she was like six,” Davis said. “For some odd reason that was her thing. She wanted that and it kills me I won’t be able to see that. She won’t get that.”
“Whoever did this, they took my baby’s life. They took my heart away.”
Davis said the Department of Children’s Services relocated her other children, Lillyhanna’s two brothers, in the wake of the shooting.
“They said our other kids were not safe with us because of what happened to our daughter and they did place them somewhere else,” she said.
As the investigation continues, Davis is encouraging anyone with information on the shooting to come forward and tell investigators.
“If they have anything I beg them to let us know, let the police know…anything at all because I need justice for my baby,” she said.
The Carter County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information on the case, especially regarding the vehicle involved and its occupants, to call investigators at 423-542-1849.
