One or two gunmen opened fire on DeArrea Haymond, 19, and Brendan Hudson, 25, earlier this year while they were in their car in the driveway in the Chicago suburb of Dolton, Illinois. Haymond was killed, leaving behind her two-year-old daughter Ma'liah. The shooter remains at large.
The year without her mother hasn't been easy but her grandmother told ABC7 that she's happy.
"She misses her mommy as well. We talk about her every day, but right now I am mommy. She is the reason I keep going every day," grandmother Dalena Grant said.
Early Walker, the owner of W&W Towing, heard about Ma'liah and wanted to do something to help make her Christmas a little extra special. He took the girl to Walmart and let her pick out anything she wanted, offering $500 to make sure she had a positive first holiday even though she's without her mom.
"I was speechless when I got the phone call," Grant said. "I cried. And I did pray to the lord to bless me with a Christmas because I didn't go shopping this year."
Walker said that this is what the holiday is supposed to be about.
"This is something that we do every year and the smiles on this particular young lady's face. What else do you want? What else can you ask for?" said Walker.
In what can only be described as a holiday miracle, Chicago hasn't had a deadly shooting in four days, a new record.
To see the look on Ma'liah's face when she gets to choose a new bike watch below:
