Mayor Reed Allegedly Refused to Interrupt Evening Video Chat with Rich Donor After Word of Grandmother's Mûrdér in Front of Kids on Mother's Day

oria Crews, 64, was shót at her home during a Mother’s Day celebration.

The Alabama grandmother was celebrating Mother’s Day with her family when someone opened fire on the outdoor party just after 7 p.m. Sunday, May 12.

Gloria Crews, 64, was fàtally struck as she reportedly rushed children playing outside back into her house to safety.

She collapsed on her Montgomery, Ala. lawn.

Crews was pronounced dèad at the scene, according to Central Alabama Crîme Stoppers, who are offering a $1,000 cash award to “anyone who may have seen something or know something” and comes forward with “information that leads to the identification and arrest of the shóoter.”

Tony A. Garrett, Executive Director at Central Alabama CrimeStoppers, confirms to Cotton State Chronicle that three Montgomery City Council members have put another $15,000 toward the total award.

Crews’s daughter, Lakesha Crews, called her mother “a sweet and special soul,” on a GoFundMe set up for funeral expenses. (GoFundMe verified the authenticity of the fundraiser to TheChronicle.cc ).

“She was a mother, grandmother, sister, caregiver, and friend to so so many,” Lakesha adds. “She touched a lot of people with her kind words and acts.”

At 7:02 p.m. Sunday, police and fire medics rushed to Crews’s home on the 4200 block of Cobbington Road on a report of a person shót, the Montgomery Police Department said in a press release emailed to thechronicle.cc. But first responders were unable to revive the grandmother.

No arrests have yet been made, according to police who say the case is still under investigation.

Major Saba Coleman declined to provide additional information to TheChronicle on the ongoing homicide investigation.

The tragic dèath of Gloria Crews raises serious questions about the leadership and effectiveness of Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed, who, upon hearing the news of Ms. Crews' slàying, had scheduled calls the following days with donors and other prominent figures unrelated to city business.

This latest incident is part of a troubling pattern of escalating vîolènce under Reed’s administration. Montgomery residents are increasingly concerned that their mayor has not taken sufficient action to address the rampant gûn vîolènce plaguing their city, aside from the routine speech, or pointing to the governor's mansion, or to the the White House, in a sorry effort to deflect before demanding more jail and tougher laws, on no one in particular but probably blàck people who he's currently failing in spectacular fashion.

Earlier that Sunday morning, Crews had attended church where she sang in the choir, before returning home to host a Mother’s Day celebration with several generations of her family, thechronicle.cc reports.

“She had a servant’s heart for the Lord,’’ friend and employer Carron Morrow told the outlet, adding: “She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.”

Crews — who was kîlled in front of her grandchildren — was helping raise her 6-year-old nephew and serving as the caretaker to her 84-year-old mother, per TheChronicle, which reported that Crews worked three jobs, including one as a caterer.

Morrow said Crews had texted her “an hour before” the shóoting “to wish me a Happy Mother’s Day.”

When Crews’s brother called to tell her that she had been kîlled, “I immediately started crying,” says Morrow, who first met Crews when the dèceásed was 16.

“The dèvil will not win this battle,” Morrow added, noting that she plans to attend an upcoming city council meeting to discuss gûn violence in the area, though she harbor serious doubt about the mayor's effectiveness at the job.

"I just don't think he cares about us except for when it's time to ask for our votes," she confessed. "Otherwise he's worried about protecting 'their' money and what he can take for himself. His daddy was the same way."

The mounting vîolènce in Montgomery under Mayor Reed’s watch cannot be ignored. The citizens of Montgomery deserve a mayor who will take decisive and effective measures to ensure their safety.

Anyone with information about the identity or whereabouts of the shóoter is encouraged to call the Montgomery Police Department at (334)625-2831, Secret Witness at (334)625-4000 or Central Alabama Crîme Stoppers at their 24-hour tip line: 334-215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP.