Frankford shooting leaves pregnant woman, baby dead

This post has been updated.

A barrage of gunfire in broad daylight in Frankford Sunday morning left a pregnant woman -- whom police say was an innocent bystander -- and her newborn baby dead.

The 26-year-old mother, identified by neighbors as Megan Doto, was sitting on a lawn chair outside on her block of Adams Avenue near Griscom Street at 11:50 a.m. when police say at least one gunman began firing shots from about a block up Griscom Street in Doto's direction -- possibly aiming for a man who was nearby at the time.

The bullets apparently missed their intended target, Police Capt. Stephen Murianka said at the scene, but one found the young mother's right cheek, striking her.

"It's a horrific circumstance," Murianka said. "She was not the intended target; she was just unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police took Doto to Temple University Hospital, where she underwent an emergency C-section at 12:30 p.m., police said. Doctors were unable to save her, and she was pronounced dead at 12:36 p.m.

Her newborn baby was delivered alive but died at 1:13 a.m. this morning. Homicide Capt. James Clark today said the baby was a girl, but Doto had written on her Facebook page that the baby was a boy she planned to name Carmine Joseph. Doto had two other children, ages 6 and 4, Clark said.

Clark today announced a $40,000 reward - $20,000 for each victim - for tips about the slaying.

Murianka said Doto was about 50 feet from the corner rowhouse where she shares an apartment with her boyfriend, and was sitting outside watching the 7-year-old daughter of a neighbor when the shots rang out. The little girl Doto was babysitting was outside with her at the time. She was not hit.

Investigators are hunting a man in black clothing seen blasting bullets at a white, four-door sedan near Doto, Clark said. They're also eyeing whether drugs played a role in the gunfire, because the block is a "drug area," Clark said. He urged tipsters to call homicide detectives at (215) 686-3334 or -3335.

"It's very sad and very tragic that you have a young lady, 25 years old, in the prime of her life who is shot and killed. It's even more tragic that her baby was also killed," Clark said. "This happened on a Sunday in broad daylight. We know that there were people that were out there. We need those people to give us a call."

Police found about a dozen spent shell casings littering the ground on Griscom Street near Womrath, about a block from where Doto was sitting when she was hit. Murianka said police were investigating the possibility that a man who lives in the same apartment house as the victim and was on the street at the time of the shooting was the target. He said that man, as well as the victim's boyfriend and the mother of the 7-year-old girl she had been babysitting at the time of the shooting were all taken to speak with detectives at the Homicide Unit.

Stay with Philly Confidential for updates on this developing story.