Taj Gibson Donates $20,000 to Young Daughter of Woman Killed in Shooting
New Timberwolves forward Taj Gibson stepped up in a major way to help a family in need.
Chynna Battle, 21, was one of two women killed in a shooting in Brooklyn earlier this month. She is survived by her three-year-old daughter, Amelia, and Battle’s family has set up a GoFundMe page to help care for the young girl. As of Thursday afternoon, the fund has raised just over $24,000 of its $30,000 goal. The majority of that money came in the form of a $20,000 donation from Gibson.
Gibson is a Brooklyn native and has family roots in the area. His six-year-old cousin, Prince Joshua Avitto, was stabbed to death the elevator of an East New York public housing building in 2014.
Battle and a second woman, 29-year-old Shaqwanda Staley, were killed when two unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of people in the courtyard of the Stuyvesant Gardens Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, on July 12. Battle was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. Staley died at a hospital after being shot three times in the back.
The two women were not believed to be the targets of the violence. The shooting is likely the result of a dispute between rival gangs, according to the New York Daily News.