Woman seeks justice for 2-year-old girl murdered in Kensington

PHILADELPHIA - A local woman spent Tuesday trying to reach as many people as she could. She went door-to-door and business-to-business trying to get justice for a little girl shot and killed while she was in her Kensington home.

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"Can I give you a flyer ladies? Thank you so much," said Rosalind Pichardo trying to reach as many people as she can. 

"It's a $30,000 reward for the murder of Nikolette. Can I give you that?"

She spent the day trying to get justice for the family of 2-year-old Nikolette Rivera, who was killed when someone outside fired into her home on Water Street Sunday afternoon.

"My immediate reaction was I had to get to the family and provide some kind of support. I have to make sure that people know the process and know they got to jump on it," she said. 

On Monday, Rosalind spoke during a vigil for Nikolette. Her heartfelt passion for fighting for people in the community where she lives comes from her own experience with gun violence.

"In 1994, I survived an attempted homicide and my boyfriend was murdered by my ex-boyfriend. My twin sister who suffered from mental illness was allowed access to a firearm and she took her own life."

That was in 2001 when her sister Kathleen died by suicide and then in 2012 someone murdered her brother Alexander Martinez at the corner of 9th and Hutchinson.

"He was robbed of his money. He was with my nephew and even though he gave them the money they shot him anyway," said Rosalind. Out of her grief Operation Save Our City was born.

She started it to help others going through what she says her family were left to figure out on their own.

Healing, counseling and how to get resources.

"I can either chose to wallow in the grief or I can choose to become a person of action," she said.

Rosalind says she hasn’t lost hope in her city despite the tragic blow it’s dealt her family.

"There is room for growth but it can't come from city hall. It can't come from the folks downtown. It's gotta come from the folks who live here."

She has faith that this community will stand up for Nikolette.

"A baby doesn't deserve that. The baby deserves justice," she said.

For more information on Operation Save Our City, please visit their Facebook page.