'She didn't deserve this': Three-year-old girl shot while lying in bed after a drive-by shooting

LONGMONT, CO - A little girl, three years old, was struck by a bullet druing a drive-by shooting in the evening hours on Wednesday, December 13th. The young girl is said to be recovering in the hospital and the officers are being credited with saving her life. 

According to ABC 7, officers were called out to the Countryside Village Mobile Park home located near the intersection of Pike Road and South Main Street around 8:00 p.m. on reports of a shooting. When the shooting happened, the girl's mother, Yudith, was out shopping for Christmas presents for the three-year-old.

Yudith said, "We just get the call that there was a shooting at the house. My first instinct was my daughter because she was there."

Initial investigations by police indicate that a person in a dark-colored sedan fired multiple shots into the home on South Collyer Street. One of those bullets went into the young girl's bedroom and struck her in her torso. The girl was identified as Alyahna.

"She was the one that got hit by one of the bullets. Everybody else was safe, but she got hit," Yudith said.

Within minutes of the reported shooting, two Longmont police officers arrived on scene and immediately began life-saving measures. The police department said that the officers used the tailgate of a police pickup truck to care for the little girl until paramedics arrived and took over. 

According to the staff at the Children's Hospital, the officers' immediate care is what saved Alyahna's life. The little girl was taken into surgery and was in that surgery for several hours. 

Speaking with CBS News, the mother said, "Thank God they got there on tome and they saved her life. By the time she got to the hospital, they got her into surgery right away."

When she recalled what happened, she said, "You hit a little innocent girl that ... she's so joyful. She's such a playful little girl. She's loved by many. She's joyful. She loves singing, 'Happy Birthday.' That's her favorite song, 'Happy Birthday.' She loves Barbie. She loves to dance. She loves to sing."

The mother wants accountability for what happened to her daughter, saying that no parent should ever have to go through this. She said, "Justice. We want justice for my daughter, justice for Alyahna, whoever did this will pay with justice."

Police are still looking for the suspect or suspects that were involved. Anyone with information about the crime that might help in the investigation is asked to contact one of two Longmont police detectives. They can either contact Detective Sloan-Stogsdill at 303-651-8544 or Detective John Winship at 303-774-3698.

Police are also looking for any type of video surveillance or footage in the area that might be used to help identify the suspect or suspects or the vehicle they were in. 

According to the Longmont Police Department (LPD), there was another drive-by shooting where the same mobile home was targeted. Those suspects were arrested back in August.

Back in October, an East Have, Connecticut, three-year-old was also grazed by a bullet during a drive-by shooting. The child was lying in bed when the targeted drive-by shooting took place. The three-year-old was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

The incident happened at 1:15 a.m. when neighbors reported hearing several gunshots. Police determined that someone opened fire from a passenger window in a dark-colored SUV, striking the home multiple times as it sped by. 
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