On an autumn evening in Birmingham, Alabama, a 34-year-old mother's life was cut short in a burst of gunfire. Lakandria Rush, a Black female, was fatally shot on October 27, 2017, while sitting in the passenger seat of a GMC Yukon. The vehicle was also occupied by a local rapper and another woman, with whom Rush had reportedly met for a transaction.
As they were seated in the SUV, a truck pulled up alongside them, and an assailant opened fire. Rush was struck and pronounced dead at the scene, while the rapper sustained injuries and was subsequently treated and released from a local hospital. The incident left her four children, ranging in age from eight to nineteen at the time, without their mother. The family was already in mourning, having buried Rush's grandfather just a week prior to her death.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Birmingham police launched a homicide investigation. Family and friends held a vigil, pleading for information from the public that could lead to the capture of the person or persons responsible for Rush's death. They remembered her as a woman with a vibrant smile and a sweet spirit, who was employed by the City of Birmingham.
Despite the initial investigation and the family's public appeals for justice, information regarding any arrests or the identification of a suspect or suspects in the killing of Lakandria Rush has not been publicly released in the years following the incident. The case has seemingly gone cold, leaving her family and community with unanswered questions and a void where a beloved mother, daughter, and sister once was. As of now, the identity of the individual or individuals who ended Lakandria Rush's life remains unknown to the public, and the motive behind the fatal shooting is not fully clear.
