Victoria DeLeon seen [right] with mom Judith Deleon, [left], used herself as a human shield to save her baby. She was fatally shot in her Fort Worth, Texas home, early Saturday

A  young mother-of-five killed early Saturday in a drive-by shooting was struck in the side by a bullet that bounced off her baby’s crib. The victim was hit while hunkering down inside her Fort Worth, Texas home, as bullets flew into the home.
Victoria DeLeon was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital but died just after 3:15 a.m. from gunshot wounds to her chest and abdomen, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.
Police found 22-year-old DeLeon inside her home around 3.00 am Saturday.
Neighbors said they heard between three and five shots in the early morning hours and ran to get their children from bed to protect them from the gunfire outside in the 2700 block of Burchill Road.
“Once she got shot, she rose up and grabbed the baby,” said the victim’s mother, Josie DeLeon.
“She held the [1-year-old] baby until they came for her.”
Fort Worth police responded to a shooting call made by one of Victoria DeLeon’s relatives just before 3 a.m., according to a police call log.
“She got hit by two bullets,” Josie DeLeon said. “One went through the air conditioning unit and hit her in the chest and the other ricocheted off the baby’s crib and hit her in the side.”
The 1-year-old is the youngest of Victoria DeLeon’s five children with boyfriend Antonio Sanchez.
Relatives are helping care for the children while she makes arrangements to file guardianship paperwork for her grandchildren, Josie DeLeon said.
“I don’t think this was intended for her,” Josie DeLeon said of the shooting. “I think there had been some stuff going on in the neighborhood and that she was the one who got hit.”

The victim: Victoria DeLeon, [top left], shares five children with boyfriend Antonio Sanchez [top right] 

The shots had been fired at the house just a few weeks ago, but the family claimed they neither knew who shot at the house, nor the reasons why.
“She did whatever she could for her babies,” Josie DeLeon said.
“She loved a lot of people and a lot of people loved her. She didn’t deserve this.”
One neighbor, who requested anonymity in fear of retaliation, described the circumstances as ‘a sad situation.’
The neighbor, who moved to the area two years ago, said the first year was quiet but that this year was not, citing three separate incidents of shots fired in the past 12 months.
“She seemed like she was the innocent person in this,” the neighbor said. “But something like this was bound to happen.”

Cops found Victoria Deleon with gunshot wound in this house, early Saturday morning. She allegedly was shot at the home around 3.00 am

Homicide detectives investigating the shooting are not sure why someone shot at the house, according to Daniel Segura, police spokesman. No one was in police custody in connection with the shooting Saturday.
FOX 4 reported that police found several bullet casings outside of DeLeon’s home.