Caught in the crossfire: Family of 16-year-old Freeport girl seeks justice one year later

FREEPORT — Monday will mark one year since the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Kiahna Clark.

No arrest has been made.

Clark's mother, Stephanie Baird, is pleading for witnesses to speak up.

Kiahna, a Freeport High School junior, was with a female friend when she was shot about 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 19 outside of a residence in the 200 block of South Cherry Avenue.

"My daughter basically got caught in the middle of something that she had nothing to do with," Baird said.

More:16-year-old Freeport girl is latest victim of long-standing gang war

Freeport Police Lt. Andrew Schroeder explained Kiahna was caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs and was not the intended target.

Baird said she moved from Freeport with her children to Monroe, Wisconsin, in an attempt to escape the street violence. She said Kiahna attended her freshman and sophomore high school years in Monroe, but she moved back to Freeport to live with her father and to attend her junior and senior years at Freeport High School.

Baird described the past 12 months as "a roller coaster" filled with emotional highs and lows.

One of the high points recently occurred when police returned Kiahna's phone to the family.

"We have new photos and videos, and we can hear her voice," Baird said. "She loved to do Tik Tok videos, which her phone is full of."

The emotional lows for Baird and her family were the holidays.

Baird also said her other children — Alysha Clark, 23, Niviyah Clark, 16, Kenin Stewart Jr., 11, and Felicity Beard, 9 — are still struggling to make sense of their sister's death.

"My son actually blames himself," she said. "He has ADHD. So, he's like, 'Mom, if I didn't act the way that I act, then Kiahna wouldn't have moved out.'"

Baird said Kiahna had a big heart, loved to be around others and was considering a career as a CNA or nurse. "She wanted to take care of the elderly."

Baird, who was in Monroe at the time of the shooting, said she has learned that there is more than one witnesses to the shooting. She also understands how those individuals may be afraid to come forward but stressed information can be given anonymously via Crime Stoppers.

Even if witnesses have moved out of town, that should not stop them from coming forward with information.

Baird said, "The detective told me they are willing to travel to meet people."

As for her son, Baird has assured him that the individuals who fired guns are the only ones to blame for Kiahna's death.

"It's time for them to turn themselves in and start serving their sentence," she said. "We started serving ours the day they took my child."

Baird plans to hold a balloon release in memory of her daughter at 3 p.m. Saturday at the shelter in Krape Park. The public is invited.

Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen

This article originally appeared on Journal Standard: Feuding gangs blamed for fatal shooting of a Freeport youth