At 15 years old, Emily shouldn't have to speak on behalf of her mother. But Emily and her little sister hope that by doing so, their pain will wake someone up in South Los Angeles to find their mother's killer.
Their mother, Dianey Santos, 39, was waiting for a bus on a Friday night in June at 83rd Street and Broadway when she was gunned down by a bullet meant for someone else.
"I'm sorry, it's really hard," she said during a news conference announcing a $50,000 reward in the case. "It's hard to believe."
LAPD Capt. Peter Whittingham, said Emily's mother wasn't in the wrong place.
"She had a right to be there," he said. "What is wrong is that we have killers on the streets of Los Angeles thinking they can simply do what they want to do and get away with it because no one in the community is going to talk about it. Nobody's going to point them out."
Surveillance video shows the intended target running for his life. Detectives said that if he knows who was after him, he's not saying.
"This is an innocent person waiting for the bus," said LAPD Detective Shawn Svoboda.
Meantime, two orphans are left as motherless children.
"If anyone knows anything, just please, I want justice for my mom," Emily said.
