Funeral For Slain Bed-Stuy Mom Chynna Battle Set For Friday

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Friends and family will gather Friday to memorialize a young mother who lost her life in a Bed-Stuy shootout last week.

Chynna Battle, 21, the mother of a three-year-old girl, was shot in the head as she stood with friends in a courtyard in the back of 740 Gates Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, said police.

Family have organized a funeral, slated for Friday morning, and friends are raising money for her daughter Amelia on GoFundMe.com.

“This tragic act of violence has left everyone shaken to their core and desperately searching for answers,” wrote Chynna’s cousin Lynette Battle in a funeral announcement released Thursday, one day after family friend Jada Kimmia posted her fundraising campaign.

"Everything [Chynna] did revolved around making sure her daughter was good," Kimmia wrote on her GoFundMe site. "What these cowards done to Chynna was cruel and reckless."

"I'm asking anyone out the kindness of their hearts to help make sure Amelia is taking care of."

Kimmia's campaign, which includes a photograph of Battle wearing her red graduation robes and holding Amelia in her arms, had raised $445 as of Thursday morning.

Battle’s funeral will be held at the Gospel Tabernacle Association World of The Apostle Doctrine church at 23 Louisiana Ave. on Friday from 11 a.m. to noon.

Battle was remembered by family as a vivacious young woman who worked hard to take care of her daughter.

"I seen that little girl grow up, graduate high school, become a loving mother," said Battle's stepmother, Sandra Burton, the day after the shooting. "She was so full of life."

Battle was not the only mother to die in the shooting police believe may have been retaliatory — Bed-Stuy resident Shaqwanda Staley, 29, was also shot and killed.

Header photo courtesy of Chynna Battle's Facebook page, permission granted by Lynette Battle.