Mom Killed by Stray Bullet While Buying Slushies with Her Children

A Missouri mother was shot and killed in front of her children during a horrifying burst of gunfire at a gas station, turning what should have been a joyful family celebration into an unthinkable tragedy.

Shakeela Martin, 35, had stopped at a BP gas station in Ferguson with her children on June 28 to buy slushies ahead of the family’s planned move into a new home the following day.

But the innocent outing ended in bloodshed when two groups of men allegedly opened fire on one another, sending bullets flying through the crowded gas station.

Martin, a devoted mother of five, was struck in the head by a stray bullet and died in front of her children.

“What should have been a joyful family moment became an unimaginable tragedy,” her cousin, Whittley Anderson, wrote in an online fundraiser created to help the family.

“Shakeela was a devoted mother to five beautiful children who were at the center of her world. She was full of love, strength, and hope for the future.”

A female friend who was with Martin and the children said several men pulled up to the gas station and began firing at another group before speeding away, according to local outlet 5 On Your Side.

The witness said she heard at least 10 gunshots before realizing Martin had been hit.

Another innocent customer was also struck in the crossfire and remained in critical condition, according to the report.

“It was just senseless. It’s so surreal,” Anderson said.

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

The brutal shooting has left Martin’s five children, ages 3, 4, 9, 11 and 15, without their mother and forced them to witness a level of violence no child should ever have to see.

“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,” saying 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 described her as a loving mother, daughter and sister whose life was stolen by reckless violence.

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

Police are investigating the deadly shooting as Martin’s family demands justice and struggles to care for the five young children she left behind.