INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (KCTV) – Aunt and grandmother of 2-month-old baby who died in a police shooting keep wondering how this happened.

They said the baby, Destiny, was being held by her mother, Maria, when the shots were fired. Maria also died in the incident.

“We’re hurt,” said Felisha Holder, Destiny’s aunt. “Really hurt.” I can’t hold her in my arms anymore. I want justice for her.

Holder said she remembers the first time she met her niece.

“I came to my mother’s house to visit her,” Holder said. “I hugged her and said ‘Hey Destiny, Aunt Felisha is here’ and she just smiled and smiled.”

The family confirmed that Independence police officers were responding to a domestic dispute. Holder said Maria became violent with her grandmother, Talisa Coombs. She said the officers knew there was a baby in the apartment and that her brother told her Maria was holding Destiny when the officers shot.

“He didn’t negotiate,” Holder said. “He could have pepper sprayed him, he could have tased him, he didn’t do any of that. No matter the circumstances, there was a baby in this woman’s arms and this woman had mental problems. She is mentally unstable. They could have had a professional on hand to negotiate the situation so the baby was safe. They called the cops thinking they were going to protect baby Destiny, but instead they killed her. »

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Holder said Maria had a history of mental illness and was diagnosed with postpartum depression. Coombs said she went to her son and Maria’s apartment almost every day to make sure Destiny was OK.

Coombs said she would not have called police if she had known that would be the outcome.

“They asked me if I wanted to press charges, and I did,” Coombs said. “I didn’t tell them to go up there and shoot them. You don’t shoot anyone with a child. They could have done something else, but they wanted to choose to kill my granddaughter and her mother. If I had known that baby was in danger from the police, I would never have said anything.

Holder launched a GoFundMe to pay for Destiny’s funeral expenses.

Authorities have not released much information about the officer-involved shooting, but as of last week, two people, a child and a woman believed to have been armed with a knife, were dead.

In a press conference last FridayChief Adam Dustman stood by his officer’s decision. Three officers, including the one who fired his weapon, are on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

This Friday, Oval Spring Flats will welcome a memorial vigil for the deceased child. The vigil is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the public is invited to attend. The memorial will include candles and a balloon release in front of the building where the situation took place.

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