A young Ottery mother is devastated after her four-year-old daughter was shot and killed while in bed during a gang gunfight on Wednesday night.
Monique Cottle, 25, said she is still in shock at the loss of her beloved Scarlett, who was hit twice in the head and once in the neck while in their their Wendy house at 4 Woodgate Court.
“We took an afternoon nap and woke up just after 5pm and then close to 7pm, I went to the shop for her,” explains Monique.
“The shop is like seven minutes away from our house and she did not want to walk with, so I left her on the bed with my phone.
“Then when I came back from the shop, I heard the shots going off and I ran to the house but I never imagined it was near our house and thought it was on the field opposite.”
At this point in her interview with the Daily Voice, Monique blanked out as she recalled walking into her home and making the soul-destroying discovery.
“When I came close to the house, I was shouting for her but she did not respond and when I came in, I found her lying on the bed with her hand on the floor and the phone lying on the ground.
“There was a pool of blood and there was stuff coming out of her head. She was still breathing and was responding to my voice but I was scared to move her because I could not see where she was shot.”
Several calls were made for an ambulance and when they arrived, they managed to stabilise Scarlett before taking her to Red Cross Hospital.
“The ambulance took some time to stabilise her and they told us that it was 50/50, but we all thought she was going to make it because she was fighting and we still told her that tomorrow we were going to ride bike outside, which she loved to do,” adds Monique.
“When I got to the hospital at 8pm, I did not wait long when the doctors came out to say she was dead and the doctor told me that she was shot twice in the head and once in the neck.”
In the house, two bullet holes could be seen in the wall opposite the front door while the bed Scarlett was lying on stood against the wall facing the street.
Surrounded by her partner Lindsay and friend, Monique said: “She was such a clever and friendly child that just loved to play and ride her bike outside.
“I feel so devastated but I do not want any vengeance for her death, I just want peace.
“I do not wish this heartbreak on anybody, even my worst enemy and I just all of this shooting and stuff to stop.
“Not only for myself but for all the mothers out there that have lost a child like this.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Andre Traut confirmed Scarlett was killed in crossfire between three rival gangsters and said a 48-year-old man was also shot.
The man is recovering in hospital and no arrests have been made.