AKRON, Ohio — A 28-year-old woman from Akron was shot while she was a passenger inside a car on East Avenue on Tuesday, according to police.
The shooting happened at approximately 11:40 a.m. on East Avenue.
She was taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center for treatment.
According to her family, she died early Saturday morning.
The woman's mother, Carla Gibbs, spoke to News 5 about the shooting.
"I just want justice for my daughter. I really want justice for my daughter because it was a nonsense crime — innocent bystander," she said.
Gibbs said her daughter, Latajah Leatherwood, is praying for a miracle, but if not, she has decided to donate her daughter's organs.
"I'm gonna let God lead the way, and if so be, maybe her organs or anything can help somebody else live," Gibbs said.
Leatherwood was riding in the front passenger seat of a car driven by a friend on East Avenue around 11:30 p.m. when a silver crossover-type SUV pulled up from behind and opened fire. Police don't know why the car was targeted, and no one has been arrested.
Police need help identifying the car and the driver.
"Any help we can get from the public to identify the car, the people who were in the car, people can make anonymous phone calls, but we really need the public's help with this one right now," Akron Police Capt. David Laughlin said.
Leatherwood's family said she has a daughter, and they are desperate for answers.
"Help me and everyone else get these criminals. Justice will be served. I'm quite sure justice will be served," Gibbs said.
Summit County CrimeStoppers is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the shooter. You can reach CrimeStoppers at 330-434-COPS.
This is the second incident in which a passenger was hit by gunfire in Akron in the last month. In April, a 21-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed while riding in a car that was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight on Rockaway Street in Akron’s Summit Lake neighborhood.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
