CNN: Child dies in fire looking for her mother

"STEELTON, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A 6-year-old girl who escaped a house fire early Tuesday died after running back inside to find her mother, authorities said.

The youngster did not realize that her mother had jumped to safety from a second-floor window.

Firefighters found the body of little Da-Onah Watts under a bed on the second floor.

Da-Onah and a 13-year-old cousin had been asleep on the first floor when they awoke to flames and ran from the house, said Police Chief Kenneth Lenker.

The older girl, Nesha Barely, lost her grip on Da-Onah as they escaped, Lenker said. Nesha told authorities Da-Onah kept yelling for her mother and went back in to try to find her.

A neighbor summoned help, but the heat and flames were too intense for police or firefighters to get inside. The home was destroyed.

Da-Onah's mother, Myiaa Smith, 29, was not seriously hurt.

The fire appeared to be accidental and probably started in the laundry room, Fire Chief Gene Vance said.

Neighbor Evelyn Brubacher said Da-Onah was a sweet, well-behaved girl, and she and her mother were very close.

"Her mother watched her," Brubacher said. "A lot of kids in this alley, they just run and run. Not that one."

Steelton, just outside Harrisburg, has about 5,700 residents.

"This little kid played in the neighborhood. We waved at her," the police chief said. "Everybody knew her. It's a tragedy."

"

CNN: stray bullet kills toddler in car seat

"http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/17/toddler.shot.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sobbing and clutching her son's toy, the mother of a 2-year-old killed when a stray bullet pierced their minivan on Easter urged police to find her son's killer.

"I want him to wake up every day and see my face and hear my voice and see my son's picture every day," Joanne Sanabria told reporters.

David Pacheco Jr., dressed in his Easter best, was strapped in a car seat Sunday afternoon as the family drove through the Bronx a few miles from home.

"I was driving and I heard the gunshot and I heard my son screaming," Sanabria, 28, said Monday. "God only knows how much I wish that bullet would have hit me."

Her daughters, ages 8 and 11, and her sister's family were also in the vehicle but unharmed.

According to police, the shots were fired as two groups of men argued.

An off-duty emergency medical technician, Angelo Cruz, heard the gunfire and ran to help the toddler, but the shooter disappeared.

The little boy had been struck in the chest and was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later.

His father, David Pacheco, said Monday he owes his thanks to Cruz. He said the resuscitation effort gave him time to see his son alive one last time.

Grieving family and friends described the boy as energetic and always smiling. "He was a happy kid," his uncle Victor Castillo said."