BATON ROUGE - Sirena Franklin, a 39-year-old mother of three, was killed Monday while she was picking up her mail at her Tigerland Avenue apartment.  

Sirena's aunt, Rosetta Franklin, said that the shooting happened when a woman — Angelique Chatman — tried to steal a package. The two women fought and Franklin was shot when she started to walk away. 

"When you get into a fight, you don't have to bring a gun, you know?" Rosetta said. "Life is being taken every day with guns."

Franklin leaves behind two adult children and a teenager: Jaquincy, Janyya and Jabreyia. Franklin was a soon-to-be grandmother as Janiyah is expecting her first child. Rosetta said she is concerned about how the children, one of whom is autistic and nonverbal, will move forward without their mother.

"When this gonna stop? Who gonna do something about it?" an emotional Rosetta questioned. "My niece had to die yesterday with three kids? And her son? How do you tell him? He can't talk — your momma’s not coming back ... He gonna be looking for her, and my heart goes out to that. It's hard. You have to be in these shoes to know what it's like."

During the investigation Monday, police developed Chatman as a suspect. The 37-year-old woman was booked in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for second-degree murder. Chatman was in prison last year for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and she was released on Nov. 17, 2023.

According to the Louisiana Sheriff's Association, between 25% and 48% of gun homicides are committed by felons.

"When this gonna stop? What are they gonna do about these illegal guns on the street?" Rosetta asked. "And if you're a felon already, why's you got a gun? Where they think these guns coming from? They know where they coming from, but they wanna point the blame to Black neighborhoods and they wanna say you living it hard. Come on. Who does it? Where these guns coming from? Every store on the corner? You think it’s groceries? Drugs and guns."

Rosetta, who has 14 nieces and no children of her own, said Sirena was like one of her own children. She said she loved her like her own.

"I cry so hard yesterday. My heart, I just don't get it," a mourning and frustrated Rosetta said. "Why she had to die? For what? Because somebody lost a fight? If I thought I could trade places so she could have everlasting life with her kids, I would. But I know I can't. God didn't choose me."

There is a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral costs.