ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A St. Petersburg family made an emotional plea for information about the person who shot and killed 21-year-old K’Mia Simmons, prior to the arrest of the suspect.
Police say the mother of two was holding her 1-year-old daughter when she was shot and killed. Police said she likely wasn’t even the intended target.
“You all don’t know what you all took from us,” said older sister Lashawn Laster.
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Laster called out the driver of the car when the incident happened. Police say Parise Lovett Jr. was likely the intended target, but he ran away from the scene before officials got there.
“You are not a man. You are a coward. Because any real man wouldn’t have left my sister to die in the streets because of you,” said Laster.
K’Mia’s family also begged for someone to come forward with information about who pulled the trigger.
“My two-year-old niece had to watch her mom die. What kind of people would do that,” said Laster.
K’Mia’s two-year-old was in the backseat and bullets hit her booster seat but missed the child.
Simmons’ one-year-old daughter was in her mother’s arms and was not hurt.
“When all of that took place. She was a real mom. She covered her baby with her body to make sure nothing happened to her baby. So I’m begging with you all. I’m pleading with you all to please come forward. Don’t let this go. Don’t let it go,” said Simmons’s mother Linda.
Simmons’ family says she was a dedicated mother who was studying to become a nurse, but now they are getting ready to bury her.
And will one day, the family will have to explain to her daughters what happened.
“Her name was K’Mia Simmons. And she was somebody,” said Laster.
Linda Simmons even pleaded for assistance from Rep. Charlie Christ and former Governor Jeb Bush.
She said she volunteered for both of their campaigns and now needs help in return.
