Tanyiah Bell died after a shooting, but her daughter survived emergency surgery and remains in her family’s care.
MEDIA, Pa. — The baby girl born after her mother was fatally shot in Lansdowne remained a central presence as a Delaware County judge sentenced Kaiheem Williams to 22 to 44 years in prison.
Williams, 20, was punished May 21 for killing 19-year-old Tanyiah Bell, who was eight months pregnant when she was shot in the head in November 2024. A jury had convicted him of third-degree murder, aggravated assault of an unborn child and possessing an instrument of crime. The child, later named Miracle Bell, survived an emergency delivery but continues to need machines and steady care.
For Bell’s family, the case did not begin and end with a prison term. It stretched from a bedroom crime scene to hospital rooms where doctors worked to save Bell’s unborn daughter. Police said Bell was clearly pregnant when officers reached the apartment. After medics declared the emergency, Bell was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. The baby was delivered alive during emergency surgery, but police said early records showed minimal neurological brain activity and an irreversible condition. Doctors initially did not expect the child to survive without life support. Bell’s mother, Tylicia Bell, chose the name Miracle after the child lived beyond the first grim medical reports.
The shooting happened Nov. 14, 2024, inside the apartment Bell shared with Williams in Lansdowne, a small community a few miles west of Philadelphia. Williams called 911 after Bell was shot. When police arrived, he rushed them to her and said, “My baby is shot.” Investigators said Bell had been watching television in the bedroom. Williams told first responders he had smoked, blacked out and was “in there,” a phrase authorities described as meaning he was high. “I was fried, man,” he said, according to the criminal complaint. He also told emergency workers he had been outside smoking before the shooting.
In interviews with detectives, Williams gave an account that placed him alone with Bell before the gunfire. He said he returned from work, ate and smoked with her inside the apartment, then left to go to the store. When he came back, he said, Bell was fine and watching TV. He told investigators he turned around and blacked out. The next thing he remembered, he said, was using Bell’s phone to call 911 because she had been shot. Investigators later pointed to doorbell video that showed Williams leaving the apartment about 15 minutes before the emergency call. Police also recovered a .45-caliber bullet from his pocket.
The child’s condition gave prosecutors a second victim in the criminal case. The jury convicted Williams not only of third-degree murder for Bell’s death but also of aggravated assault of an unborn child. That count reflected the injuries suffered before Miracle was delivered. The case showed how one act created two separate legal findings: Bell’s killing and the harm to the daughter she was about to give birth to. Authorities did not announce a proven motive. Prosecutors instead focused on the gun, Williams’ statements, the missing weapon and the timing shown on video. Defense lawyers argued there was no evidence of a planned killing and no sign of a fight before the shot.
At trial, Williams said the shooting was accidental. He told jurors he believed the .45-caliber handgun was unloaded while he was trying to put on a trigger lock. He said he dry-fired the weapon, heard it fire, and then noticed Bell’s wound. He testified that he touched Bell and saw blood. He said he began shaking her and shouting, “I think she’s dead.” Williams also said he heard a door close and then realized the gun was gone. “I didn’t want that to happen,” he told the jury. Prosecutors challenged that account by pointing to the hidden or missing firearm and the evidence that Williams left before calling for help.
Before the trial, the defense sought to narrow the case. At a preliminary hearing, attorney Eugene Gibbons said there was no sign of yelling, a domestic dispute or a fight inside the apartment before Bell was shot. He said the record did not support an inference of premeditation. Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher answered that the physical scene did not look like an accident. Gallaher said that if Bell had been shot by mistake, officers would have found the gun next to her, not missing from the spot where trained investigators searched. A judge allowed the case to continue, and the jury later chose third-degree murder.
The sentencing hearing focused heavily on what Bell’s family lost and what Miracle now requires. Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Margaret Amoroso addressed Tylicia Bell by name and spoke about the limits of the courtroom. “I wish I had the power to bring Tanyiah back, and if I could, Tylicia, I would,” Amoroso said. “I see your pain, I do. I see it, but I can’t imagine it.” The sentence of 22 to 44 years means Williams will be in prison through much of Miracle’s childhood and possibly well into her adulthood, depending on parole decisions.
Relatives have said Miracle has made progress despite the early prognosis. She still needs machines to live and requires near-constant attention, but her family said she has moved her arms, legs and head. Tylicia Bell has described mixed emotions while caring for her granddaughter. She said frustration and rage sometimes surface because Miracle reminds her of Williams and the shooting, but caring for the child also brings thoughts of Tanyiah and what she would have wanted. For Bell’s family, that care has become a daily reminder of both the killing and the life that survived it.
Currently, Williams’ conviction leaves the case in the post-sentencing stage. Any appeal would address legal issues from the trial or sentencing, not the basic fact that a Delaware County jury found him guilty. Bell’s relatives continue to raise Miracle while the criminal sentence begins.
Author note: Last updated June 20, 2026.