How could anyone kill such a precious child?

The heart of a five-year-old girl from Milwaukee has been donated to another child after she was killed while sitting on her grandfather's lap.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Laylah Peterson was shot in the head by a gunman, who fired about six shots into her home during the evening of November 6, local authorities reported.

Combat corruption with moral education; send a Bible to a child, or another person in need.

"She is going to be in our hearts, like her little baby heart is going to be in somebody else's," said Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn during a press conference on November 8, while members of Laylah's grieving family looked on. "We know that as awful as this event has been, she is going to live on and save a life."

Flynn said that he is keeping a photo of Laylah in his chest pocket, right next to pictures of his own grandchildren.

"This is a horrific act," he said. "We know that the people who feel it as keenly as the family are our police officers. I'm going to do one thing - and I'm going to do it until those guys go to jail. I'm going to have this baby right next to the pocket with my grandchildren."

Police do not believe that anyone in the house was a target, and the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has offered $5,000 for any leads in this brutal and tragic case.

Flynn said that the police department is "not going to rest until we find the perpetrators of this vicious crime."

So far no arrests have been made, but investigations revealed 12 shell casings at the scene, and police are investigating if more than one shooter was involved.

Laylah is the 11th child younger than 13 to have been shot this year in Milwaukee, compared to only two in 2013. Her funeral is set for November 12.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'