Logo

The 7-month-old girl killed by a stray bullet in Brooklyn while her parents pushed her in a stroller Wednesday afternoon had just learned to say “mama,” the baby’s heartbroken family revealed.

The tragic tot, Kaori, was seated with her brother in a double stroller when “something went off” near Humboldt and Moore Streets in East Williamsburg, their mother, Lianna Charles-Moore, said in a phone interview.


  7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore was shot dead in her stroller by a stray bullet.
 7-month-old Kaori Patterson-Moore was shot dead in her stroller by a stray bullet.

Those loud blasts turned out to be gunshots fired by a thug on the back of a moped, but the distraught parents didn’t realize it at first.

“We thought it was fireworks, but my son jumped out of the stroller, and I picked him up and carried him,” Charles-Moore, 20, recalled. 

“I was hugging him, and then when I looked to my left, my daughter was just there, lying there. She was shot in the head. She was just bleeding. It was just too much,” she said.


  One of the two perps involved in the fatal shooting remains at large. via REUTERS One of the two perps involved in the fatal shooting remains at large. via REUTERS

  The child’s blood-soaked hat lies on the ground at the scene OLGA FEDOROVA/EPA/Shutterstock The child’s blood-soaked hat lies on the ground at the scene OLGA FEDOROVA/EPA/Shutterstock

The tearful mother revealed that her 2-year-old son had also been grazed in his back by a bullet and has been asking for his sister ever since she was fatally shot.

“My daughter was innocent. She didn’t deserve that. We were just going outside to go get her a few things, and my son a few things. My son got impacted with everything that happened, yeah, so it was just too much, because they could have killed my son and my daughter,” Charles-Moore said. 

Family members remembered the 7-month-old as a bubbly baby who was “always laughing” and said she just reached a heartbreaking milestone. 


  Family members remembered Kaori as a bubbly baby who was “always laughing.” 
 Family members remembered Kaori as a bubbly baby who was “always laughing.” 

  Kaori’s 2-year-old brother, who was grazed in the harrowing scene, has been asking for his sister, their heartbroken mother said.
 Kaori’s 2-year-old brother, who was grazed in the harrowing scene, has been asking for his sister, their heartbroken mother said.

“She just started saying, ‘Mama,’ she just started, like, almost about to crawl, like it was just a whole bunch of stuff that she was just learning how to do,” her mother said.

Kaori’s grandmother, Linda Moore Oyinkoinyan, recalled collapsing at her job as a 3-K public school teacher after receiving a frantic call from her daughter about the tragic shooting. 

“I was supposed to get them today or tomorrow. I’m a teacher, so I have off, and I was going to take them,” Oyinkoinyan said. 

“My daughter called me at my job. She was screaming. I had to hang up on her. She was scaring me. She said, ‘They shot Kaori in the head.’ She was screaming. She was frantic. I just passed out in the class,” the grandmother recalled as her heartbroken grandson held her hand.

Oyinkoinyan remembered her slain granddaughter as a “beautiful spirit” who was always giggling. 

“She was loving. She was caring. Always smiling. She was very smart. The baby was very beautiful. She brought a lot of people together,” Oyinkoinyan said. 

“It’s heartbreaking,” she added. 


  Police inspect the scooter they believe belongs to the gunmen. Kyle Mazza Police inspect the scooter they believe belongs to the gunmen. Kyle Mazza

The suspects crashed the scooter two blocks from the fatal shooting. via REUTERS


  A massive NYPD manhunt is now underway to catch the second alleged gunman.   Obtained by NY Post A massive NYPD manhunt is now underway to catch the second alleged gunman.   Obtained by NY Post

The shooting, described as gang-related, took place around 1:20 p.m, when the gunmen pulled up on a moped and opened fire into a crowd before speeding off, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press briefing.

Chilling surveillance photos captured the shooter firing from the back of the moped as the driver sped away. 

The suspects then crashed the moped into an oncoming car two blocks away, throwing the passenger to the pavement so hard that his shoes flew off his feet, Tisch said. 

He was rushed to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was identified as a person of interest in the shooting and is being questioned in an unrelated domestic incident.

The girl was not the intended target of the gunfire, but it is not immediately clear if the killers were aiming for her parents or other bystanders at the scene, according to sources.

A massive NYPD manhunt is now underway to catch the second perp and track his movements, police officials said. 

“I want justice,” said Kaori’s mother.

Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy