Little Laylah Washington fought as long as her two-year-old heart let her. She had been shot in the head Sunday night by three people in a road rage incident. Laylah fought hard, but on Wednesday morning, she lost the battle to live. That leads us to this story.
She was walking in front of a fire station, holding a sign, all by herself. Danielle Jones says she had to do something.
Danielle’s a mother – she doesn’t know mother Leslie Washington, her family, her children. She’s never held 2-year-old Laylah in her arms.
But she understands. “It breaks my heart to know this mother has to bury her child,” Danielle said. “I’m a mom. I would prefer my kids to bury me, instead of me burying my kids.”
Memphis police released video where you can see the black car driving behind Leslie Washington’s vehicle. They also let us see some pictures of men police are calling person’s of interest.
Danielle Jones calls the suspects cowards. She says if anybody knows where they are and they’re not helping police, they’re cowards too.
She’s tired of the news stories, tired of the violence, tired of it all.
“I can’t expect the Mayor or the police to do 100% of what needs to be done,” she said. Perspiration was dripping down her face while she held a sign honoring Laylah. The way she looks at it, this is a fight she need to join. A fight against violence. “I need to get off my tail and get out here and fight for what I want to see changed.”
As she talked, another man arrived at the same firehouse. The one Leslie Washington took her little girl to on Sunday night for help.
Marcus Wallace hadn’t talked with Danielle, nothing was planned, he just felt the need to come here to pay respects to a little girl – to grieve not just for her, but for his city. “I’m in the photography business,” Wallace said. “I had a guy on Memphis Buy, Sell and Trade tell me he wanted to pay for my services with a gun. That’s just senseless, you know? That’s crazy.” Maybe it is, but right now, that’s Memphis.
