'I Have No Forgiveness In My Heart,' Devastated Step-Mom Tells Killer Of Her 'Little Girl'

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — The step-mom of a woman shot dead as she enjoyed a warm summer evening in a Brooklyn courtyard has a message for her killer: "I have no forgiveness in my heart for you."

Chynna Battle, 21, the mother of a 2-year-old girl, was shot in the head as she stood with friends in a courtyard in the back of 740 Gates Avenue, in Bed-Stuy, around 9:30 p.m., said police.

Another woman, Shaqwanda Staley, 29, was was also hit and killed in the shooting at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"I seen that little girl grow up, graduate high school, become a loving mother," said Battle's stepmother, Sandra Burton, as she wiped tears out of her eyes. "She was so full of life."

"Whoever did this to my stepdaughter, listen to me loud and clear," Burton said. "You turned our worlds upside down, I have no forgiveness in my heart for you."

Battle, a waitress at Applebee's, had been sitting with a group of people in the Stuyvesant Garden Houses courtyard when the shots rang out, according to police.

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Emergency responders rushed Staley to Kings County Hospital and Battle to Woodhull Hospital, but doctors were unable to save their lives, police said.

Burton arrived at the hospital with other family members and said the memory of her dead stepdaughter's face is one she will take "to the grave."

Police had not reported any arrests as of Thursday morning or determined if the two women were the intended victims.

Burton will spend today trying to take care of her husband, Battle's father, who is in a state of shock, she said.

"The only thing I can do is try to hold my husband up right now," Burton said. "We’re a tough family, we gotta stay strong."

Lead Image:

Sandra Burton, the step-mother of shooting victim Chynna Battle, 21.

Photos by Kathleen Culliton

Correction: In the original version of this story, Sandra Burton's name was misspelled as Burgon. The reporter apologizes for her poor hearing.