Mom of 5 Killed by Stray Bullet While Buying Slushies With Her Kids

A Missouri mother was shot and killed in front of her children after she was caught in the crossfire of two feuding groups at a gas station, according to police and her devastated family.

Shakeela Martin, 35, had stopped at a BP gas station in Ferguson on June 28 to buy slushies for her children when gunfire suddenly erupted.

The family was celebrating because they were supposed to move into a new home the following day.

“What should have been a joyful family moment became an unimaginable tragedy,” Martin’s cousin, Whittley Anderson, wrote on a GoFundMe page created for the family.

Relatives described Martin as a devoted mother whose five children were the center of her life.

“She was full of love, strength, and hope for the future,” Anderson wrote.

An unidentified female friend who was at the gas station with Martin and the children said several men pulled up and began shooting at another group of men before speeding away.

The friend recalled hearing at least 10 gunshots before realizing Martin had been struck.

Martin was shot in the head and died in front of her children.

Another innocent bystander, identified only as a male customer, was also hit by the gunfire and was reportedly hospitalized in critical condition.

“It was just senseless. It’s so surreal,” Anderson told local outlet 5 On Your Side.

“How can a woman go to the store, get slushies for her kids and end up dying?” she asked.

Martin leaves behind five children, ages 3, 4, 9, 11 and 15.

“These kids now have to live with this until they’re old, and it will never go away,” Anderson said. “It will never leave our family.”

Martin’s 8-year-old niece remembered her aunt as “pretty” and “kind” and said she often gave her treats.

“I cried because I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye, and I didn’t know that she was gonna die,” the child said.

Martin’s family said she will be remembered as a loving mother, daughter and sister.

“She was just a sweet mom, a sweet daughter and a wonderful sister,” Anderson said.