6-Month-Old Shot, Dies in Chicago Violence (VIDEO)

A six-month-old Chicago girl who was shot five times while her father was changing her nappy has died, authorities said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office says Jonylah Watkins died at Comer Children’s Hospital a day after she and her father were shot.

The girl’s father, Jonathan Watkins, remains in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Police are scouring the South Side neighbourhood of Woodlawn, where the attack happened and looking for security footage that might help them track down the shooter.

Witnesses said the gunman approached Jonathan Watkins at around 1pm local time and opened fire on him while he was standing beside his minivan and changing his daughter’s nappy. She was on the front seat.

Mr Watkins was shot in the side and buttocks, and suffered a graze wound to his face. Jonylah was shot five times, the family said.

It was not the family’s first brush with Chicago’s gun violence. The girl’s mother, Judy Watkins, was shot in the knee while she was pregnant with Jonylah, according to the woman’s mother, Mary Young.

“There’s too much shooting over there,” Ms Young told reporters. Speaking of her granddaughter, she added: “She’s nothing but six months old. How could anybody – what kind of heart?”

Chicago has seen a recent rise in gun violence – much of it gang-related – and registered at least 500 homicides last year for the first time since 2008. In 2011, there were 435 homicides.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said homicides were down 26% this year, compared with the same period a year earlier.

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