DAYTON — A Dayton family is grieving the loss of their 13-year-old daughter after she was killed in shooting during a Fourth of July family gathering.
Imani Ford said his daughter, Inyah Ford, was at her mother’s home on Kipling Drive, celebrating the Fourth of July, helping take another child to a car when she was shot and killed.
News Center 7′s Mike Campbell talked to Imani Ford and he said Inyah, the youngest of five children, was very mature and often cared for her nieces and nephews.
“She was just a joy to be around, loving and caring, she knew how to make you smile,” Ford said.
Inyah’s grandmother, Pastor Tina Jennings, said her death is difficult to come to terms with.
“[It’s] so hard for us to believe its true,” Jennings said.
Dayton Police told News Center 7 that they believe two people were involved in gunfire over something that had nothing to do with Inyah.
Investigators named Shamarr Bodine, 20, as a person of interest, but he is not in police custody. Ford said the circumstanced of Inyah’s death, that they know, are more painful because he tried to reach out to and tried to help Bodine previously.
Now, Ford said he wants justice for his daughter and is asking for the person responsible to take responsibility.
“You took her from me, she was the most beautiful girl in the world, you took her from me, man, turn yourself in,” Ford said.
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