Shooter sought in killing of St. Pete mother of two
ST. PETERSUBRG, Fla. - Police are searching for the suspected gunman who sprayed bullets into a crowd, killing a mother of two young children.
Police are working to track down 25-year-old Tyree Bell. They believe he's the one who fired into the crowd of people killing 23-year-old Arnieceia Milton. Her family is now trying to come to grips with their loss while caring for her two children -- an 8-year-old and a 3-month-old girl.
"She was just a very sweet little girl. She was just so full of life," Milton's mother, Angela Wheeler said.
Milton's cousin, Katherine Proctor is saddened that her niece and nephew will not grow up to know their mother.
"She loved her kids. She spent a lot of time with her kids. Her kids were everything to her," Proctor said.
Milton's life was cut short early Sunday morning. Police say the shooter, Bell drove by the Dread Pros and More Salon on 16th Street South and fired shots into a crowd of people, hitting Milton.
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Courtesy: St. Petersburg Police Department
Her close friend, Reynautica Williams was by Milton's side.
"I spent the last few moments of her life with her so that's something that is going to be with me forever. We were just standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been me. It could have been anybody," Williams said.
According to police, the bullet was never intended for Milton. Investigators say Bell got into an altercation with Milton's boyfriend at another location earlier that evening.
"She was just a good person. They took away somebody really close to me. We were one year apart. She was more than a niece to me. She was like a sister. She was real close to me. We grew up together. We always lived in the same household together," Milton's aunt, Andrea Proctor said.
Tyree Bell, courtesy St. Pete police
Monday evening, close friends and family gathered at Milton's mother's home in St. Pete. Loved ones brought balloons with the letter "N" for Arnieceia's nickname, Niecy.
Her family says support from the community has been overwhelming. Now, their focus is on getting justice and raising the children left without a mother.
"The person who did this, you need to turn yourself in because it's not right to take someone's child away from them and to take a mother away from her child," Milton's mother-in-law, Scarlett Clark said.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the whereabouts of Tyree Bell is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-873-8477 or visit http://www.crimestoppersofpinellas.org. Anyone with information leading to the arrest of Tyree Bell may be eligible for a reward of up to $3,000.