A 2-year-old child was hospitalized after being shot in the stomach during a drive-by shooting in Tavares on Tuesday night.

  • 2-year-old child struck by bullet in Tavares
  • Toddler was playing outside when car drove by, someone fired shots
  • Tavares Police say they have found a suspect vehicle

Investigators recovered a suspect vehicle Wednesday morning, police said. They also are speaking to three persons of interest.

"We have two names and one unknown name that was given by the victim, the 2-year-old child’s mother, so we are looking into those persons," said Cpl. Sarah Coursey​ with the Tavares Police Department. 

The toddler, Sy'mia Pierce, was playing outside of an apartment on 580 W. Rosewood Lane near State Road 19 at 9 p.m. Tuesday. A vehicle, thought to be a dark gray Chevy Malibu, drove by, and someone inside fired several shots, according to the girl's mother, Tiffany Collins.

“I came, got my daughter out of the house, put her in the truck, and they came, turned that way and started shooting," Collins said. "The bullet came in the thing and it grazed her (Sy'mia) on her side.”

The 2-year-old was hit in the abdomen and taken to Florida Hospital Waterman. The toddler has been released and expected to recover.

“I did cry because I didn’t know what was going on at the time,” Collins said.

According to Collins, the shooting stemmed from a feud with another woman. Collins said both she and the other woman have children with the same man, and an argument Tuesday night led to the shooting.

“I’m ready for justice for them to go to jail,” Collins said.

"It’s a very scary thing, a serious thing to think that a gun is out there and someone is just opening fire in an apartment complex where people are always outside," Coursey said. "There's a basketball court right next to it, there's children throughout the whole neighborhood. We're just fortunate it ended the way it did this time," she said. 

Coursey said when they do make arrests, charges will include shooting into an occupied dwelling and attempted murder, both felonies. 

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477).


A 2-year-old child was playing outside of an apartment on 580 W. Rosewood Lane in Tavares when police say a car came by and started shooting. The toddler was struck in the abdomen and hospitalized but is expected to be OK. (Jerry Hume, staff)