Last updated on Sept. 20, 8:30 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A 13-year-old girl is dead after she was found shot in the chest in North Philadelphia around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
Alaysia Smith is the youngest person to lose their life to gun violence in Philadelphia this year. She was a student at Wissahickon Charter School-Fernhill campus and a cheerleader at a local athletic club.
According to police, officers responded to reports of a shooting inside a row home at West Somerset and North Bailey streets in the Allegheny West neighborhood. In the second-floor hallway, police found the girl with a gunshot wound to the right side of her chest. She was pronounced dead at an area hospital a half-hour later.
Investigators are trying to figure out what happened inside the home.
Sources that spoke to KYW Newsradio said there was a group of men, including family members of the victim, inside the home at the time of the shooting. Police said witnesses on the scene reported to investigators that they saw the group flee from the home after a shot was fired.
Authorities believe only one shot was fired, and they did not find bullet holes in the home. They also have yet to recover a weapon or make any arrests.
Alaysia’s mother, Ayla Bruce, said her daughter had a heart of gold and shouldn’t have had her life taken away so soon.
“You never know when’s the last time you’re gonna see your loved one, especially a child,” Bruce told NBC10. “You couldn’t have told me I would be burying my 13-year-old daughter.”
She said Alaysia was interested in fashion and hair and thought about becoming a nurse one day.
“Honor roll student, a cheerleader, a leader,” said Bruce. “Thirteen years old is way too early to have to go. Her whole life was ahead of her.”
Investigators are continuing to review nearby surveillance video and speak to potential witnesses.
The Philadelphia Police Department is offering at $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.