A mom ‘going about her daily life’ was shot and killed while driving through a gunfight

A group of men involved in a shootout just north of uptown are believed to have accidentally shot and killed a passing motorist during rush hour Thursday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say.

The victim was identified as 27-year-old Kendal Ryan Crank, a mother of two, Lt. Bryan Crum said. Police say she was not the target of the shooting.

“She was just going about her daily life, so that makes this even more tragic,” Crum said. He added that Crank was going to college and hoping to become a nurse.

Her family told Observer news partner WBTV she graduated from Independence High School and was a wonderful mom to her 3-year-old son Kyrie and her 9-year-old daughter Lamaya.

“Kendal always trusted me with them, and I want her to know her kids will be fine. You bet I have got them,” her older brother told WBTV.

Crank was pronounced dead in her car shortly after she was shot, around 5:15 p.m. in the 2400 block of 28th Street, just east of North Tryon Street, police said.

Police announced Friday that three men — 22-year-old Tychicus Dobie, 17-year-old Adonis Smith and 24-year-old Marquis Smith — have been charged with murder.

They were apparently shooting at one another when a bullet hit Crank instead, police said. CMPD is not looking for any more suspects, Crum said.

Dobie walked into Carolinas Medical Center-Main shortly after the gunfight with a gunshot wound to his arm, which he is expected to survive, Crum confirmed.

Marquis Smith has prior convictions in North Carolina for robbery with a dangerous weapon and several crimes related to cocaine, public records show.

Dobie was convicted in North Carolina of common law robbery in 2016 and misdemeanor communicating threats in 2017, records show.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 5:56 PM with the headline "A mom ‘going about her daily life’ was shot and killed while driving through a gunfight."