JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 3-month-old girl, who survived the shooting that killed her mother while she was inside her womb, died on Sunday, family told News4Jax.
Iyana McGraw, 19, was found shot inside an apartment on Justina Road in October, days before she was set to give birth to her first child, Milan.
“She was so young,” Gloria McGraw, Iyana McGraw’s aunt, said Tuesday. “Four days and Milan would have been here, healthy baby.”
Doctors were initially able to save Milan following the shooting, but Gloria McGraw said the child never recovered even after she was taken to an Atlanta hospital for further evaluation. Gloria McGraw said Milan struggled to breathe on her own in the hospital and was on a ventilator for months before the baby passed away.
“At some points, we had hope that she would be able to do it. They took her off the machine and put her right back on because she couldn’t do it. She was trying to fight, but she couldn’t do it," Gloria McGraw told News4Jax. “We had a lot of hope thinking we would have Milan here, thinking Iyana would live through her, however, God had other plans.”
Iyana McGraw’s aunt said she’s hoping justice is also a part of God’s plan.
“I need you to close your eyes and take a moment. Take Iyana out of the equation and put your child in her shoes, put your grandchild in her shoes, and what would you do if your child was murdered that way and you knew it was someone out there who knew?” Gloria McGraw said.
Iyana McGraw lived with her boyfriend inside the apartment where she was found shot and he may have been the intended target, according to an arrest warrant.
As of Monday, no one has been arrested in connection with the deadly shooting.