The former partner of a Brooklyn man who was killed by a stray bullet when a police officer fired into a dark stairwell in 2014 says the couple's 3-year-old daughter still doesn't understand what happened.

"She asked a lot of questions -- she's not at the age where she really understands what's going on -- but she's still asking." says Kim Ballinger. "It's something that I will always have to answer."

Former NYPD Officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter in the case, but a judge reduced the charge to criminally negligent homicide. He shot and killed Akai Gurley, an innocent man who was walking the stairs in NYCHA's Pink Houses.

Liang was sentenced last week but received no jail time.

Liang is appealing the conviction, and Ballinger is suing the city for Gurley's wrongful death.

"I hope, and I pray that things can change within the system," Ballinger says. "They need to train these officers better...because there's too many innocent lives being taken away."