MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “I won’t see my daughter grow up, graduate, or even go to kindergarten.”
Leslie Washington spends her days flipping through photo albums and watching videos of her 2-year-old daughter, Laylah Washington.
Police say last month four men in a black car followed Leslie Washington out of a Hickory Hill parking lot, pulled up beside her and opened fire, hitting 2-year old Laylah in the back seat.
“I saw the blood coming down her face,” she said. “The tires were on flat, the back glass was broken, my oldest son got out with Laylah in his arms, and she was crying the whole time.”
One of the bullets struck Laylah in the head.
“My son put his shirt around her head,” Washington said. “They told me to talk to her and keep her calm. She kept crying.”
Paramedics rushed the toddler to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, as nurses and doctors did everything they could to save the innocent 2-year-old.
But days later, Laylah died from her injuries.
“I’m really angry, the bond that I have for my daughter has been cut short, I never expected to be burying my child.”
Detectives are working around the clock to put Laylah’s killers behind bars.
They are surprised that more people are not calling to give them the tips they need to arrest Laylah’s killers.
“This is one of the most senseless acts of violence that I have ever seen, and it is especially frustrating that we are not getting the assistance from the citizens as we would normally get,” said Maj. Darren Goods with Memphis Police. “You would think that a 2-year-old innocent child with her entire life ahead of her, someone would be so outraged that the phones would be blowing up, especially through Crime Stoppers, and that just simply hasn’t been the case.”
Washington says someone knows who shot her daughter but won’t help her get justice for Laylah.
“The whole city is being quiet, nobody wants to be labeled has a snitch or you don’t want to tell on your brother, or your boyfriend or whoever. If this was your baby, would you want me to keep quiet?” she said. “I had two other kids in there that could have lost their life, I feel like you intended on killing everybody in the car.”
Police want you to take a good look at the car in the video; if you know who killed Laylah Washington, you are urged to call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH. All calls are confidential.