Funeral held for slain Chicago baby

CHICAGO, March 19 (UPI) -- A funeral was held in Chicago Tuesday for a 6-month-old girl killed when a gunman opened fire on her father as he held her on his lap in a parked minivan.

Jonylah Watkins' grandmother poetically implored people to do what they can to stop the gun violence decimating the city, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"My neighbors of Chicago, what have thou done?" Mary Young said while near her granddaughter's silver coffin, surrounded by stuffed animals and toys, in a church filled with hundreds of mourners. "You brought in the darkness, removed the sun.

"My neighbors of Chicago, have you lost your voice? How can you just stand back and let our future take its course.

"My neighbors of Chicago, our youth is in danger on the streets of the town with the false code of silence while they shoot each other down.

"My neighbors of Chicago, take back your home. Don't spare the rod and leave your children to roam."

Investigators believe the girl's father, Jonathan Watkins, a 29-year-old convicted felon with alleged gang ties, was the gunman's intended target in the March 11 shooting.

Watkins wasn't changing his daughter's diaper when she was shot, as originally reported, Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said.

McCarthy told a news conference the baby was sitting on her father's lap inside the minivan, the Tribune reported.

McCarthy said the infant was shot once, not multiple times as some published reports indicated.

Watkins, who suffered bullet wounds to his buttocks and left side, was released from the hospital last week, was cooperating with investigators, McCarthy said.

Police were going over surveillance video from the Woodlawn neighborhood where the shooting took place as part of their investigation.