Family friend: Girl's killers deserve to die

Maleah Williams was shot in the head in the 700 block of Trinity Court on Friday evening, and she died Monday at UNC Hospitals.

Ramone Jamarr Alston, 22, and Pierre Je Bron Moore, 23, were arrested Monday and charged with first-degree murder. Shaquille Oneill Davis, 22, was arrested Sunday on charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury.

"They need to rot. They need to get the death penalty for capital murder because that baby did not deserve it," said Larunda Craig, a friend of Maleah's family whose husband was the girl's godfather. "I want the highest penalty they can get. We're going to fight for that."

Police said shots were fired from a vehicle as it was leaving an apartment complex, and one of the bullets struck the toddler. Witnesses said the shooting might have been retaliation for an argument that occurred earlier Friday and that Maleah was an innocent victim.

"It's a big tragedy what happened, and it's going to take a while for everyone to get adjusted to what happened," said Craig, who was at the apartment complex during the shooting.

"I saw the passenger door open, and I saw the person rise from the passenger side with the gun," she said. "I saw the first fire, started panicking and started grabbing kids."

Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall said it's too early to discuss whether he would pursue capital punishment in the case, adding that it's uncertain whether Davis will even be charged with murder.

"A lot of information has come in since the first suspect was arrested. It's very fluid. We're evaluating the information because the information doesn't always turn out to be evidence," Woodall said.