A 9-year-old girl alerted Akron police Sunday night that her mother and brother had been shot in their West Akron home.
“My mom got shot,” she told a dispatcher at about 10 p.m. “My mom got shot 12 times and my brother got shot. They’re hurt.”
Her mother, 48-year-old Sonia Freeman, was still alive when the girl made the call. Freeman can be heard on the 911 recording relaying that three men came into the house and opened fire. The girl said her mother was lying on the ground near the stairs on the main floor.
Paramedics transported Freeman to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center, where she later died. Her son, 28-year-old Christopher Lane-Freeman, was pronounced dead in an upstairs bedroom at the Hartford Avenue home. The 9-year-old girl was unharmed and is in the care of family members, police reported.
Police are investigating, but no motive has been released.
On Monday, friends and family left balloons and flowers on the doorstep. A neighbor described the family as good people. Freeman and her daughter attended services every week at a church down the road, he said.
“It surprised all of us when we woke up to this,” said the neighbor who did not want to be named. “It’s awful what happened to them.”
At about noon, a 23-year-old friend of Chris stopped by to drop off a bouquet of flowers. She described him as a calm, mellow man.
“He was a really nice guy, and his mom was a very sweet lady,” said the woman who also did not want to be identified. “I don’t know what they did to deserve this. They didn’t deserve this.”
A woman, who identified herself as a friend of Sonia, said she came to Hartford Avenue after hearing about the slayings because she wanted to see the house for herself.
“She was such a good person. She wasn’t in the streets or nothing,” said the woman who declined to give her name. “I can’t believe something like this would happen to her.”
Greg McDaniel, who said he was a cousin, also came to the house.
“This world’s just gone crazy,” said McDaniel whose eyes were red and puffy, “and it’s just getting crazier.”
Akron police described the suspects as three black men in their 20s. Anyone with information is asked to call Akron police at 330-375-2552.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.