EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — "She really liked to play. She was always laughing and smiling," said Ernest Moore.
Moore's talking about his 3-year-old niece, Calyia Stringer.
He said Calyia had a big smile and an outgoing personality that warmed her loved ones' hearts.
"Everybody loved Calyia. She was very intelligent and so smart. I just knew she was going to grow up to be somebody who we would see in the newspapers or read about," said the child's uncle.
Sadly, her relatives' high hopes are now tragically dashed.
Family members said around 9 p.m. last Sunday they were walking inside the East St. Louis apartment where Calyia's dad and grandmother live when bullets ripped through the air.
"I counted 13 down that way, across the parking lot," said Moore.
Family and neighbors told police at least two guys kept firing shots at each other.
Investigators said one shooter was in a car and the other ran off.
One bullet tore through a wall of Calyia's grandmother's upstairs bedroom and hit the innocent child in her head.
The family said Calyia was watching TV on the floor at the time.
"It's just unreal. We are all beyond devastated. We're hurting. I'm just trying to get through this. It's just senseless violence man. There are just kids and old people who live in this area of the complex," added Moore.
Paramedics rushed the child to a hospital in critical condition.
The family asked doctors to take Calyia off life support Tuesday morning. Family members said she later passed away on her dad's 27th birthday.
"It's so sad. He didn't even get to enjoy his birthday. She was his only child," said Moore.
The shooting happened at the Roosevelt Homes Public Housing Complex in East St. Louis.
Mildred Motley, the executive director of the East St. Louis Housing Authority, told 5 On Your Side public safety officers are mobile and "are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week at all of our properties."
"They need to be out here more," said a concerned neighbor.
The neighbor said her car was also shot up during the incident.
The concerned mom also said gun violence has become common at the apartment complex and that's why she'd like to see the public safety officers permanently stationed at Roosevelt Homes.
"I've been out here several years and right now there's just so much gun violence here. We need those officers here for good," she said. "It's like who's to say next time they shoot it might be me and my baby. I'm just praying for that child's family and I hope the little girl gets justice because it wasn't right."
Calyia Stringer lived in Centreville with her mom.
Illinois State and East St. Louis police are both investigating the deadly shooting.
Anyone with information is asked to call Illinois State Police Special Agent Emmarie Snyder at 618-301-6182 or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.