Ashaya Miller, 15, fatally shot in aunt's Calumet City home

March 17, 2013 (CALUMET CITY, Ill.) (WLS) -- A 15-year-old girl was shot to death in a relative's home in south suburban Calumet City Sunday night.

Police are looking at evidence to identify the shooter.

Ashaya Miller was less than two miles from her own Hammond, Indiana home when she was shot.

According to her family, the Thornton High School sophomore loved art and had dreams of becoming a fashion designer.

Miller was in the kitchen of her aunt's house in the 500-block of Ingraham Avenue when shots rang out through a window from the gangway outside, police said.

"At this point it seems like a very senseless shooting. Very tragic. But to someone it had meaning and we're going to find out who that person is and what that meaning was," Calumet City Chief of Police Edward Gilmore said.

Her family is devastated by the sudden loss.

"These things happen in neighborhoods but that's not the neighborhood and she was not the type of girl to want to be around a gun," her stepfather Darryl Williams said.

"You would think a home is a safe place, especially for children," her cousin Swonda Hughes said.

Miller was shot twice in her back and her 19-year-old cousin Dahnyah Williams was hit in the elbow.

Police don't believe Miller was the target and her family is adamant that the young teen did everything she could to stay away from violence.

On Monday morning authorities from several agencies dressed in S.W.A.T. gear sealed off the area, and executed a search warrant at a home near the intersection of State Street and Lincoln Avenue to look for evidence.

Miller's family just hopes justice is served for their loved one.

"She left behind a big brother and two younger sisters. She was the world to them," Darryl Williams said.

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local, diane pathieu

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