In the spring of 2015, a beautiful one-year-old Black female named Malijha Miracle Grant became the unintended victim of a violent street conflict. On April 16, 2015, in Kent, Washington, Malijha was secured in her car seat in the back of her parents' vehicle, a place that should have been a sanctuary. Her mother, Lisa Lynch, was driving, and her father, Martrice Grant, was in the passenger seat as they headed home.
Their journey was shattered when a dark-colored sedan pulled up and unleashed a hail of bullets into their car. One of these bullets struck the infant in the head. She was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to her devastating injury three days later.
The investigation into the senseless killing quickly pointed away from a random act of road rage and towards a calculated, gang-related attack. Kent Police detectives determined the shooting was part of an ongoing and violent feud between two rival street gangs. The intended target of the ambush was not the innocent child, but her father, Martrice Grant, who was identified as a member of the "Deuce 8" gang. Though Grant publicly denied any gang affiliation, investigators believed the shooting was an act of retaliation orchestrated by the rival "Low Profile" gang. The motive appeared to be revenge for the murder of a Low Profile member, John Williams, just weeks earlier. In a tragic twist of fate, it was later revealed that baby Malijha was a blood relative of Williams, the very man whose death her attackers were seeking to avenge.
Months of determined police work led to a primary suspect, a 24-year-old convicted felon named DeMartrae Leshawn Kime, a member of the Low Profile gang. Investigators used surveillance footage to piece together the events, showing the shooter's car lying in wait to ambush the Grant family's vehicle, indicating the murder was premeditated. Though police believed Kime did not act alone, he was charged with second-degree murder. Following a trial, a jury found Kime guilty. He was sentenced to more than 48 years in prison. Despite his conviction, DeMartrae Kime maintained his innocence, telling the court and Malijha's grieving mother that he did not kill her daughter. While Kime was held accountable, authorities stated their intention to continue investigating to bring everyone involved in the crime to justice. In a separate legal matter, Malijha's father, Martrice Grant, was later arrested and faced charges for promoting prostitution.
