NEW YEAR HEARTACHE
Girl, 7, killed in ‘mistaken identity’ drive-by shooting after gunman opens fire into car filled with mum and kids
Truck pulled up alongside the family car in Houston, Texas and began shooting
A YOUNG girl was shot and killed in a drive-by when a truck driver fired several times into a car carrying a family.
Jazmine Barnes, 7, and three of her sisters were in the car with their mum LaPorsha Washington as they were driving into a service station in Houston, Texas.
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A red pickup truck was captured on CCTV pulling up alongside Washington's vehicle before its driver began firing into the car in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
Jazmine died at the scene, her mother suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and her 6-year-old sister was injured by shattered glass, the New York Post reports.
The gunman is described as a bearded man in his 40s wearing a red hoodie.
A distraught Washington, who remained in a hospital on Monday, spoke to reporters from her hospital bed, describing how the gunman sped up after firing, only to pull in front and slow down before firing again.
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The 30-year-old mum said: "He intentionally killed my child for no reason.
"He didn't even know her, he didn't know who she was.
Jazmine's father, Christopher Cevilla, pleaded with with public to provide relevant tips to authorities so that an arrest can be made.
He said: "My daughter was 7 years old, loving, caring, very passionate with people, very sweet, just an innocent young girl. Very smart in school.
"There's just a lot of things that's being robbed of me and my family at this moment that we will never be able to get back."
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Sheriff Ed Gonzalez declined to speculate on what prompted the driver of the pickup to pull alongside and fire into the family's car.
He described the attack as "totally unprovoked" and added: “The family should be celebrating and spending time together anticipating the new year and instead they’re making plans to bury this innocent, precious child."
A version of this article first appeared on the New York Post.
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