A Milwaukee Police Department spokeswoman says this stolen minivan was used as a getaway vehicle for those who shot and killed a pregnant woman Sunday in Milwaukee. Police are hoping anyone who might have seen the occupants will call them at 414-935-7360 with information. Credit: handout for mpd

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The 13-year-old boy is slumped in an easy chair, his gangly legs stretched onto the floor. He stares absent-mindedly at his Game Boy as he clicks away. He appears to be in another world and only periodically looks up at his six brothers and sisters who are buzzing around him.

On Sunday morning, the boy's mother, Sharon L. Staples, refused to give up her purse to robbers and was gunned down at close range in front of him. She was four months pregnant with twins.

"He's hurtin'," his grandfather, Elmo Staples, said Monday about the boy.

About 5:35 a.m. Sunday, the boy was walking with his mother to pick up the family car from her ex-husband so she could use it for work. The two were in front of 3711 W. Lisbon Ave. when two men jumped out of a van and approached them. One man pulled out a small handgun.

"He said, 'Let go of the purse! Give me the purse!' " recalled the boy, whom the Journal Sentinel is not naming for his protection.

His mother refused to surrender the purse, which contained a computer and business contacts for the seven companies she worked for. So one of the robbers, a man in his late teens or early 20s, shot her, according to Milwaukee police.

Vanessa, a friend of the family who did not give her last name, said: "He saw the gun and he didn't know his mother had got shot. She collapsed in his arms. She told him to go get help."

The robbers fled to a teal Dodge Caravan SE van, which was waiting nearby, and drove off around the corner.

While the boy knocked on a nearby door, the robbers came back in the van.

"They went around the block and then came back for the purse," the boy said.

The stranger in the house nearby called 911, and Staples, 34, was taken to the hospital. She later died there, along with her 4-month-old twin fetuses.

"It hurts. I just hope they catch these people. Do justice. That's three lives. No plaything," said Elmo Staples, the mother's father. "This is a big shock and a big loss. I never expected it to happen to her. They need to be off the streets."

Elmo Staples, who turns 83 on Tuesday, suffers no small part of that loss. Sharon was his oldest daughter and one of his main caretakers. Now he may be left to take care of her seven children, who range from 4 to 13 years old. Several of them were still struggling Monday to comprehend what had happened.

Her 5-year-old son pointed at the ceiling, flashing a big smile.

"My mommy's up there!" he exclaimed. "She's everywhere!"

Staples said his daughter used to make homemade sausages and pickled eggs, which she sold to help her pay off the family's house and take care of the children. Only a few months ago she started her own business, working as a nutritionist and a saleswoman for the cosmetics firm Avon.

"I'm just so saddened for the family," said Wendi Muehls, who acts as a big sister for Staples' 12-year-old daughter. "Sharon has been nothing but a wonderful mother. Very good to her kids. Got them involved with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

"Sharon didn't deserve it. These are animals. I can't believe they'd do that. If they knew how much time and effort Sharon gave those kids and how hard she worked to give them what they need, they have no idea what they took away."

Staples was a jolly person but also a strict disciplinarian who was very watchful of her children, Muehls said.

Milwaukee police inspector Kurt Leibold said: "This young woman was an innocent victim. She wasn't up to anything illegal."

Leibold and his colleagues are working on several leads in the homicide. They recovered the 1997 van and have determined it was stolen, but they still need help finding the suspects.

"We know these two suspects did several other robberies," Leibold said. One or two other robberies earlier Sunday in the same area also involved a teal van, he said.

One of the two robbers was described as black, in his late teens or early 20s, 5 feet 6 inches and about 150 pounds. Police did not offer a detailed description of the second or third suspect but are hoping anyone who might recognize the vehicle, or who might not have reported a robbery, will call the police.

"If you don't stop them, they're going to shoot some other people," Staples' 12-year-old daughter said.

According to Wisconsin law, the person who shot Staples likely would face a charge for a single homicide, not triple, Leibold said.

It has not been determined what will happen to the children, but Elmo Staples said he hopes the tight-knit family can stay together. Muehls said she also hopes the family will get some community support in the form of clothing or other donations.

"I really felt this was a family that didn't deserve this. It is just tragic," she said. "This family really could use some community support."

Anyone with information on the killing is asked to call the Police Department at (414) 935-7360.