'You don't always have to use guns': Mother of 19-year-old shot dead pleading to put guns down

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The mother of 19-year-old Dayvon Smith, who was shot dead Tuesday afternoon, is begging her community to put the guns down. The young man leaves behind a 1-year-old girl.

Smith will be remembered for being a goofball, a dancer, a brother of eight and a father of one. Smith's mother, who did not want to be identified for safety reasons, said his daughter already feels his loss.

"The night it happened, the little baby didn't even sleep, all she did was cry," she said.

Milwaukee police said Smith was shot Tuesday near 19th and Clarke. Smith's mother said she doesn't know what happened, but she knows her son was often in that area.

"It was probably he knew, or hung out with, on a certain block that he goes to everyday, where he felt he was protected at," said Smith's mother.

Smith's family wants justice and wants the shooter to turn himself in.

Milwaukee police said from Jan. 1 to Sept. 13 112 people have died from shootings. Smith's mother is begging her community to put the guns down.

"Just put them down. Take it to back of the days when we were kids, just fight it out. You don't always have to use guns to think you’re a man, using guns don't make you a man."

A GoFundMe has been made for funeral costs. 

Milwaukee police seek unknown suspects at this time. Anyone with information is asked to contact MPD at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS.