PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Pontiac family is mourning the loss of a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed over the weekend.
"She's everything to me. She's my best friend," said Nicole Todd about her 16-year-old daughter, Desiree Childs. "She lit up the room every time she walked in the room with her smile."
But now, Desiree's parents, siblings, and other loved ones are mourning after Desiree was shot and killed as she walked home with a friend Saturday around 11:22 p.m.
The two girls were walking on Menominee Road near Johnson Avenue in Pontiac.
Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office don't believe Desiree or her friend were the intended targets, but say it's possible the shooter thought Desiree was someone else or the shooter(s) were aiming for someone else.
"I truly believe they thought she was somebody else and she was just walking home at the wrong time," Nicole said.
Earlier in the day Saturday, Desiree and her family had gone to a Halloween-themed birthday party. The family returned home and before Nicole and her boyfriend went to a Halloween party for adults, she instructed her daughter to stay home with her brother.
But Desiree left and went to a friend's house. As that friend and Desiree were walking back to Desiree's house, someone opened fire.
"We don't think that either of the girls were the target," said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
Bouchard urging anyone with information in the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
While while detectives have an idea what happened, Bouchard is urging the shooter(s) to turn themselves in before deputies have to locate them.
Desiree's family has started a GoFundMe to help with burial expenses.
"I've been sitting on the couch just waiting for her to come through the door even though I went and saw her body yesterday," said Nicole. "It still doesn't feel real at all."
