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Police Say Mother Of 5 Killed In McKeesport Not Intended Target

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A man shot and killed a mother of five in McKeesport Tuesday morning.

And police say she was not the intended target.

Susan Sidney, 25, was a mother of five, ranging in age between 3 and 7 years old, according to relatives.

But since Sidney was gunned down on a McKeesport Street just after 11 p.m. Monday, the children have been with their grandparents.

"I came outside on my porch," said a neighbor. "I saw somebody going down the street and I looked a little to my left and there was a body laying there."

"I ran down to see if they were alive or not and that's when I noticed it was a female that was laying there," the neighbor added. "I checked her pulse. She had no pulse."

Police say Sidney was walking with an unidentified male on McLeary Street when the gunfire rang out. She may not have been the initial target. Police suspect her male companion was.

"When I rolled her over and her eyes was wide open," the neighbor said. "That's something I'm never going to forget. Don't really like to think about it, but I can't really get it out of my mind."

Police say they haven't been able to locate the guy Sidney was walking with. But what's left behind is a family without a mother – and a haunting visual that may not be forgotten.

"It's hard when you hold somebody and you know that just a minute earlier they were alive," the neighbor said.

Friends and family of Sidney gathered on McCleary Street Tuesday night at the scene of the shooting.

Sidney's father told KDKA's Kym Gable, "She was very happy for 25 years and that's what we're here to praise. This crowd's here because they can see that spark and that light."

Watch Kym Gable's report:

Kirk Sidney believes the man who ran from the scene knows why the shots were fired.

He, and Sidney's mother, Tina Sidney-Green, cried and held each other at the candlelight vigil.

"She did not deserve this," said Sidney-Green. "I want (police) to get the person who did this."

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