CHARLOTTE — The aunt of a two-year-old girl who was shot in her bed early Sunday morning says she’s still struggling to recover, but their apartment was shot at again this week.

One person has been arrested, in connection with one of the shootings, Channel 9 learned on Thursday.

The aunt didn’t want to show her face on camera, but she said this is the third time someone has shot into her apartment in the last month, and five kids live there.

“I haven’t felt safe in my home since the first shooting. These two were back to back,” she said. “I haven’t been there, now I’ve been so paranoid.”

The shootings happened in the Evoke Living at Westerly Hills apartment complex, which is behind the Walmart on Wilkinson Boulevard.

The aunt says after the latest shooting, they want to move. She showed Channel 9 an email on Wednesday that appears to show agents for the complex allowing her family to break their lease with no penalties but no refunds.

According to the apartment agent, the complex “had already filed for eviction ... against those responsible for [Sunday’s] shooting.” We asked the complex if they meant the shooters or a resident connected to them.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department put up a camera tower after Sunday’s shooting, but it didn’t stop the latest one that happened around 4 a.m. Tuesday.

“Since my niece got hit, they took it really serious because someone got injured this time and it was a baby. So hopefully they find out who does this,” the aunt said.

The little girl who was shot on Sunday, Leiloni, still has a long road ahead of her.

“She’s still sedated, they’re getting her to breathe on her own so they’re trying to basically get her to heal a little bit better before they wake her,” her aunt said. “So her process is going slow, but it’s going well. I just hope her healing speeds up because I do miss her saying, ‘Auntie, auntie.’ Can’t even talk to her.”

Arrest made as the investigation continues

Police tell Channel 9 they’re looking for multiple shooters because they found different types of gun casings on the ground.

On Thursday, Channel 9 learned that a suspect was arrested for Sunday’s shooting. Demetrick McDonald, 19, was taken into custody Wednesday. He’s facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, 20 counts of discharging a weapon into occupied property, and felony conspiracy.

According to an arrest report filed by CMPD, officers found that several homes had been shot into. Officers found a total of 37 discharged shell casings around Westerly Hills Drive.

Investigators used surveillance video from traffic cameras to track the suspect’s vehicle before and after the shooting. When the driver stopped at a gas station, CMPD was able to get still surveillance photos of him.

The family is collecting donations to help move out of the apartment; you can help by clicking this link.

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Fight escalates into deadly shooting at Mooresville apartment complex

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