'Mind-boggling': Woman shoots baby in leg over $100 drug debt, police say
A Philadelphia woman is accused of shooting a 7-month-old baby in the leg over a "$100 narcotics debt," police said.
Dominique Billips, 28, was arrested Friday and formally charged with three counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment of a person and other offenses, Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum said Saturday during a news conference.
"Sometimes the things we see are mind-boggling," Rosenbaum said about the shooting. "People get so angry, they always resort to nonsense. I just don't understand it."
According to the lieutenant, the child is in stable condition and has since been released from the hospital.
It is unclear if Billips has received a bond or hired a defense attorney.
What did Dominique Billips allegedly do?
The shooting occurred on July 18 around 5:52 p.m. in the Holmesburg neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia, police said in a news release.
When police arrived at the scene, they found evidence of gunfire but no victims, according to the release. Shortly after beginning their investigation, police learned about a baby who had been shot in the leg and taken to a hospital by a private vehicle.
The child was treated for a gunshot wound to the right leg and listed in stable condition, police said. Investigators would later release surveillance video of the shooting on Friday and ask for the public's help in identifying the shooter.
Police tailed Billips on Friday after being identified through tips and witness interviews. Detectives approached her before she could enter a vehicle also seen in the surveillance video, Rosenbaum said.
Detectives then obtained search warrants for both of Billips' addresses and found one extended magazine, 11 live rounds and other ammunition, according to the lieutenant. She was subsequently arrested.
Police believe the baby's father was the initial target and the mother "just got wrapped up into it," Rosenbaum said.
'The video is very disturbing'
The surveillance video released to the public by police shows a woman approaching the baby, who is in a stroller, and his mother from behind on the day of the shooting.
"The video is very disturbing," Rosenbaum said.
In the footage, the armed woman can be seen chasing someone who is running away, and when she passes the mother and baby, she turns around and shoots them at point-blank range.
"You see in that video, she really points the gun at the mother of the baby, who’s also a juvenile, and fires. Luckily, she missed," Rosenbaum said about the video. "Obviously, that’s when the baby got hit. A 7-month-old baby isn’t going to remember that, but it’s always going to be out there. That story’s always going to be out there."
Before the shooting, there was an argument between the shooter and the baby's parents, according to the lieutenant. The mother left with the child, and the father was on his way to join them, but he did not know the shooter was following him, he added.
Rosenbaum said the baby's parents may have fled from the scene of the shooting because they were scared they would get arrested as one of them was wanted for a non-violent crime.