'I'll always wonder what his first word would be': Heartbreak of mother whose baby was shot dead in its stroller during botched robbery by teens

The heartbroken mother a 13-month-old baby shot in its stroller says she will always wonder what her son's first words would have been.
Sherry West is mourning the murder of her Antonio Santiago, who died of a gunshot to the head last Thursday after a botched robbery by two teenagers while West was out for a walk in the historic city of Brunswick, Georgia.
De'Marquis Elkins, 17, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, along with a 14-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile, Police Chief Tobe Green said.

Murdered: Baby Antonio was shot in the head as he slept by two boys who attempted to rob his mother

Grief: Antonio's father Luis Santiago tries to comfort Ms West at her apartment on Friday

West recounted the attack: 'He asked me for money and I said I didn't have it
'When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies. They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said "I don't have it." And he said, "Do you want me to kill your baby?" And I said, "No, don't kill my baby!"'
Authorities said one of the teens fired four shots, grazing West's ear and striking her in the leg, before he walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.
West said her son was walking well on his own and eight of his teeth had come in. But she also mourned the milestones that will never come, like Antonio's first day at school.
'I'm always going to wonder what his first word would be,' West said.

Tragedy: Little Antonio Santiago's stroller stands empty after the 13-month-old was shot in the head during a botched robbery

Tearful: West is devastated that she will never see her son grow up - or even learn to speak her name

Luis Santiago, the boy's father, said he must take comfort in his faith that his in a better place.
'He's all right,' Santiago told the boy's mother, trying to smile. 'He's potty training upstairs in heaven.'

West said she took one look at a teenage suspect's jailhouse mugshot Saturday and said he was definitely the killer. Yet an aunt of the teen said he was eating breakfast with her when the slaying took place.
Despite the conflicting stories, police have charged 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins with murder, along with a 14-year-old suspect whose name has been withheld because he's a juvenile.
Brunswick police spokesman Todd Rhodes said even though Elkins' aunt provided an alibi, authorities have good reason to bring the charges.

Horror: Demarquis Elkins, 17, allegedly threatened Sherry West then shot her infant son when she didn't give him any money

"That's what she's saying, but the evidence we're looking at says something else," Rhodes said, though he would not elaborate.
Also Saturday, police in this coastal port city released 911 recordings from neighbors who sobbed and pleaded for help right after 13-month-old Antonio Santiago was shot in the head a few blocks from his mother's apartment.
Sherry West said she was pushing her baby in his stroller as she walked home from the post office Thursday morning. She said a teenager, with a younger boy behind him, approached and asked her for money. West said when she told him she had no money, the teen drew a gun and said: "Do you want me to kill your baby?"
The gunman opened fire and West was shot in the leg, while another bullet grazed her left ear, she said. She watched helplessly as the gunman shot her son in the face, she said.

Distraught: Antonio's mother, Sherry West, was pushed away when she tried to protect her son

Two teddy bears, a vase of flowers and a decorative cross had been left Saturday against a wooden fence near the shooting scene.
Katrina Freeman said Saturday the shooter can't be her nephew, Elkins, because he showed up at her house Thursday at 8:15 a.m. - roughly an hour before the killing. She said she cooked eggs, grits and sausage for breakfast and that Elkins accompanied her and her children to run errands when they left at about 11:30 a.m.
"He was with us the whole time," said Freeman, adding that she gave police the same account of her nephew's whereabouts. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is innocent."
The slain boy's mother said she picked the gunman out of a photo lineup of 24 mugshots police brought to her Friday. When a reporter showed her the photo of Elkins taken when he was booked into the Glynn County jail Friday, she wept and nodded.

Scene of the shooting: Antonio's upturned stroller still lies on its side in the residential area of Brunswick

Desperate hunt: Police have arrested a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old in connection to the crime

"He killed my baby, and he shot me, too," she said.
At her apartment Saturday, West had filled several bags with her son's clothes and diapers to donate to charity. She said she hopes prosecutors pursue the death penalty in the case.
"My baby will never be back again," West said, sobbing. "He took an innocent life. I want his life, too."
In 2008, West's 18-year-old son was stabbed to death in an altercation in New Jersey. Prosecutors said the stabbing was self-defense and did not file charges.
In Georgia, police said they are still searching for the gun. No eyewitnesses have come forward.
In the 911 recordings, two callers said they heard gunshots and then saw West take her son out of his stroller, lay him on the ground and try to revive him using CPR.
"Yes, I heard the shots. Somebody shot this child," said one sobbing caller, who told the operator there were three shots fired. "She's got him on the ground. Please, we need everything we can get."
The 911 operators asked the callers if the boy was breathing. Finally, a man in a grave voice, answers: "No, the baby's not breathing." He says the child was shot "right between the eyes."
A woman can be heard screaming in the background just before police arrive. Sirens drowned out her cries.
Elkins' relatives said Saturday they don't know if he has an attorney. His older sister, Sabrina Elkins, said police arrested him as he came to her home Friday.
"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she said. "He said, `What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?'"
The suspect's sister said he returned to Brunswick a couple of months ago after living in Atlanta for a while. While he wasn't enrolled in high school, she said, he had been taking classes to earn his GED.
"He couldn't have done that to a little baby," Sabrina Elkins said. "My brother has a good heart."

Antonio's father Louis Santiago wept as he described his regret he had not been there to protect his son

Antonio's father Louis clutches his son's pacifier as he tells a reporter about his murdered toddler

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