Grandmother of Chicago girl shot in head says she's 'fighting for her life at 11 years old'
— -- After an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl were shot in the head in two separate incidents 25 minutes apart in Chicago this weekend, the grandmother of one of the victim’s is asking for prayers for her only grandchild.
"My grandbaby did not deserve this," Patsy Holmes, grandmother of critically wounded, 11-year-old Takiya Holmes, told ABC Chicago station WLS-TV. "That is my only grandchild. Now she's fighting for her life at 11 years old. That shouldn't be."
The first shooting occurred Saturday at about 7:15 p.m.; a 12-year-old girl was playing with friends when she was shot in the head, the Chicago police said.
Then at about 7:40 p.m., the 11-year-old was shot in the head while sitting in the back of a car, the police said. They were shot about 6 miles apart on the city’s South Side.
Both girls are in critical condition today, the Chicago Police Department told ABC News.
Holmes told WLS of her granddaughter, "They are treating her as best as they can, with all kind of aggressive measures that the hospital can do for her. But it's grim and we want prayers to go up for her."
ABC News has been unable to reach Holmes.
Both girls were unintended targets and were hit by stray rounds, the police said, adding that the shootings took place in areas with high gang conflicts.
No one is in custody in connection with either shooting and both investigations are ongoing, the police said. Detectives have been canvassing for information since the shootings, the police added.
Holmes told WLS, "We want whoever saw what happened to tell the police. If you're out there, please turn yourself in."
Violence in Chicago soared in 2016, with a record number of shootings and the most homicides since 1996, police say. The Windy City saw 3,550 shooting incidents and 762 homicides last year.
There is no simple explanation for why the violence is so extreme, Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters at the end of 2016, but he pointed to the prevalence of gang activity.
Djuan Bowers, an uncle of the 12-year-old victim, Kanari Bowers, said to WLS, "Instead of a gun, pick up a pencil, or a book. Talk it out."
ABC News has been unable to reach the Bowers family.
