A Milwaukee neighborhood grieved in the summer of 2022 after two-year-old Ranyla Tharp, a Black/African American female, was fatally wounded in an incident authorities described as an accidental shooting on July 15, 2022. The shooting happened on a Friday morning; police said the child was in the vicinity of a loaded firearm but did not provide a full account of how the injury occurred.

Milwaukee police opened an immediate investigation and took a 33-year-old woman into custody in connection with the shooting. Public reports do not disclose the woman’s identity, her relationship to Ranyla, what specific charges—if any—were filed, or the final outcome of the case. The community was left mourning a toddler whose life had only just begun.

If anyone has information about what happened that morning or knew Ranyla and her family, please come forward to assist the investigation.