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A mother grieving the violent death of her daughter is now fighting for custody of her grandchild.
23-year-old Tacara Reese-Windom was shot and killed in Dallas last week with her five-month-old child in the car. Dallas Police said the murder happened at the 500 block of South Carroll Avenue.
Lavone Richardson, Reese-Windom’s mother, got the call at 5 a.m.
“It’s a call nobody wants to get,” Richardson said. “She was light. She was a big ball of light and everybody that knew her loved her.”
The fact that Reese-Windom’s 5-month-old baby, Ke’Ani, was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, only adds to the trauma.
Richardson said she thought baby Ke’Ani would be home with her by now, but she hasn’t seen her grandchild since the day her daughter was killed.
“I’ve watched her since the time she came out of my daughter until the time to came home from the hospital and have had her since daily,” she said. “And to not have her present along with her mother, it’s tearing us into the shreds.”
NBC reached out to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services about the case. A spokesperson confirmed Ke’Ani is in the state’s care.
A statement to NBC 5 reads in part:
“It is our policy to check out and conduct home studies on relatives who want to take care of a child when the parents are not able to take care of the child.”
Richardson said it is not how her daughter would’ve wanted it.
“I know in my heart that if anything happened to her, she would want her daughter to be with her mother. I’m the one who raised her for 23 years so I’m sure she would want her child to be with me,” Richardson said.
State law gives grandparents the ability to request possession or access to a grandchild. The state said it will be up to the courts to decide where 5-month-old Ke’Ani is placed.
“My heart is so broken already. And to not have her she is the missing link,” said Richardson.
Richardson told NBC 5 she’s undergone home evaluations and obtained a lawyer to petition for custody.
We’ve reached out to Dallas Police for additional information on the murder investigation. Details about the murder are limited. There’s been no information released on suspects or an arrest at this time.