She was a fighter until the end. But little Milliani Rodriguez’s medical issues were too much for her to survive.
In February, she was delivered a month early after her mother was shot and killed. Late Monday, the infant took her final breath, the child’s grandmother Adrienne Rodriguez told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I lost everything,” Rodriguez said in a social media post. “...now she is with her mommy. I will forever love u two.”
On Feb. 2, Rodriguez’s daughter, Shaniyah Monet Rodriguez was shot in DeKalb County, police previously said. The 20-year-old, who was eight months pregnant, died from her injuries two days later.
Shaniyah was shot at the Brannon Hill condominiums in the 6600 block of Singleton Lane. The notorious and derelict condo is among 272 of the metro area’s persistently dangerous complexes, according to an investigation by the AJC that looked into serious crimes, lax maintenance and other hazards in Atlanta neighborhoods.
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office
Doctors delivered Milliani, who was in critical condition and was never able to leave the hospital.
On Feb. 27, Shaniyah Rodriguez’s boyfriend and father of her child was arrested and charged with her murder. Diamonte Oiy’Shawn Haithcoats, 22, had been living with his girlfriend and her mother.
Adrienne Rodriguez previously told the AJC that Shaniyah and her boyfriend had been fighting before her death. She said she worried that Haithcoats seemed to not want his girlfriend out of his sight, but never imagined he could hurt her or their child.
Shaniyah was Adrienne’s second child lost to gun violence. On Aug. 24, 2014, her son, Nizzear, was shot in his bed just hours after celebrating his 13th birthday.
A grand jury indicted Haithcoats in May on five charges: malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit feticide and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, court records show.
In an unrelated incident in May, Haithcoats was charged with unlawful acts of violence in a penal institution and battery.
Officials did not publicly announce Tuesday if charges would be upgraded against Haithcoats after his daughter’s death. He remains in the DeKalb jail.
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