Between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. on 17 April 1999, three-year-old Rakić was struck by shrapnel while situated in the bathroom of her second-floor apartment at 8 "Dimitrije Lazareva-Rase" Street, in the Belgrade suburb of Batajnica. Her home was located from the Batajnica Air Base. Batajnica was repeatedly targeted by NATO during its air campaign against Yugoslavia, which lasted between March and June 1999. Rakić was killed instantly. At the time of her death, she was sitting on a training potty. Five civilians were wounded in the attack.