Local

Reward increased in fatal shooting of 9-month-old

ATLANTA — The reward is now at $5,000 for an arrest and conviction in a Stone Mountain home invasion that left a 9-month-old baby dead.
 
The baby's mother, Tanyika Smith, told Channel 2's Liz Artz she only remembers one bullet hitting her face.
 
"The only shot I remember is this one and went in and out," Smith said, pointing to her eye.
 
Smith was shot 11 times May 10 after at least two gunmen burst into her DeKalb County home, on Tolani Farm Road.
 
She was holding her 9-month-old baby, Kendarius Edwards, as she took cover in the bathroom with her mom and a close friend.
 
In all, the three women and baby were hit more than 26 times. One of those shots killed Kendarius.
 
"That's a coward. You don't kill a baby. I hope it's on your conscience, too," Smith said.
 
Wednesday, Bishop Quincy Carswell, from the Covenant Church, announced a reward that's now up to $5,000.
 
He said Kendarius has not been buried, and the family's needs are growing. Their home, he told Artz, is not safe.
 
"That door is still not completely safe. There is a need for food and maybe for this family to be moved out of this house," Carswell said.
 
More than anything, the family wants the gunmen to face the consequences; they hope $5,000 will bring them justice.
 
"They're monsters, they're cowards and we just need your help. Think if it was your family, what would you do in this type situation?" said Tracy Smith, Kendarius' grandmother.
 
DeKalb County police think the shooting was in retaliation for another crime, and the targets were two brothers who also lived in the home.
 
"I just wish I could hold my son again or just talk to him. But I can't. Everybody saying it's going to be all right, but it's not, but they get to go home to their child. Somebody took my baby right in my arms," Smith said.
 
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.