His intended targets scattered, unscathed, police said, but a bullet struck down Nurid-Din, who had fulfilled a dream months earlier when she opened a private day-care center and school.
Nurid-Din's own children range from 1 to 6 years old. The younger ones do not understand where Mommy has gone, her family said. The older ones, who understand better, say Mommy is in paradise.
Nurid-Din's sisters wept softly as Shelley was led shackled into court. They wept more as the senseless circumstances of their sister's death unfolded.
The circumstances preceding the killing have been documented.
Shelley's brother Anthony, 20, was shot in the face in January 2011 over a drug dispute at a West Philadelphia playground, police said
Then, in July, the Wynnefield home of the brothers' mother was strafed with gunfire while she and her younger children were inside - an attack, police said, likely meant to scare Anthony Shelley from testifying.
The Inquirer profiled the Shelley family in August, shortly after that shooting.
Daniel and Anthony were hiding out of state, but vowed payback.
In an interview at the time, the Shelley brothers said that they belonged to the 54th Street crew and that the man awaiting trial in the shooting of Anthony Shelley - and the enemies who fired upon their childhood home - hung on 58th Street.
Daniel Shelley said he wouldn't talk to police - "That's snitching," he said.
He was polite and courteous that day, and cleaned the apartment as he spoke. He had already dropped out of Overbrook High School, but said he would like to open a day-care someday.
He also talked about the rules of the street.
"You live by the streets, you got to abide by the rules," he said. "I live by the streets; I know the consequences."
He said the 58th Street crew had something coming.
