Shakeela Martin

Shakeela Martin, 35, had stopped at a BP on South Florissant Road just before midnight when someone opened fire from a vehicle, aiming for someone else but hitting and killing Martin in front of her children, police say. "Shakeela was a devoted mother to five beautiful children who were the center of her world," Martin's cousin, Whittley Anderson, wrote on GoFundMe, hoping to raise money for Martin's children and funeral expenses. "She was full of love, strength, and hope for the future. In a heartbreaking twist of fate, she was preparing to move her family into their new home the very next day." Martin had been living in a two-bedroom bungalow on South Dade Avenue in Ferguson. She stopped by the gas station to buy slushies for her children to celebrate the move to Jennings, Anderson said. Ferguson police Chief Troy Doyle said Martin made a purchase inside the store and came outside when several shots were fired from a nearby car. "Investigators believe Ms. Martin was not the intended target and was inadvertently struck by gunfire," Doyle said. The children were unhurt. Martin's children range in age from 3 to 15. The fundraiser had brought in more than $12,000 by Thursday morning. Her nickname was Sweetz, said longtime friend MeMe Reed, who met Martin 20 years ago when they were neighbors in Jennings. Martin was "funny as hell," Reed said, but also down-to-earth and incredibly loving. "She was all about her kids," Reed said in an interview. Adrian Shropshire, the mayor of Ferguson, took to Facebook to talk about how the killing looks to be a random act, something that is "incredibly difficult to predict or prevent." "That reality is frustrating and painful," the mayor said, "but it cannot lead us to despair or complacency. We cannot throw up our hands and accept violence as inevitable. Instead, we must stand together with renewed determination to make our neighborhoods safer." Another man was injured in the shooting. Doyle did not say if he was the intended target. Doyle said police found no connection between Martin and the man.