Suspect Charged In Death Of 2-Year-Old Inkster Girl Who Was Gunned Down On Porch
INKSTER (WWJ/AP) - Raymone Jackson, 24, has been charged with first degree murder, torture and assault after he allegedly fatally shot a 2-year-old girl the porch of a home in Inkster, then shot and injured the child's father and another 13 year-old girl on Wednesday.
Michigan State Police Lieutenant Michael Shaw explained the torture charge in what police describe as a case of retaliation.
"The child was the intended target and that's what the torture charge was for," Shaw said. "His thought process was that he was going to kill the child in front of this guy and then kill him afterwards and so that would be the last thing he sees."
Police have also taken a second person into custody in connection with the case, and that person is being questioned. The two other victims of the shooting remain hospitalized, but are expected to survive.
"Evil -- that's all I can say there," Shaw said. "I can't wrap my head around anything that would make me want to walk up to a small child sitting next to a porch, pointing a pistol at their head and shoot them dead. I can't give you a motive -- I can't wrap my head around that."
The death of the 2-year-old Detroit-area girl was ruled a homicide after an autopsy by the The Wayne County Medical Examiner confirmed a gunshot wound to her head.
State police say the toddler's name is Kamiya Gross; but Mary Mazur of the medical examiner's office told the Associate Press the girl's mother identified her as Kamiya French.
A witness who was visiting his daughter at a housing complex on Michigan Ave. and Middlebelt the day of the shooting told WWJ's Mike Campbell he'd gone out to his care for a cigarette when he noticed a white van drive by with three people inside.
The witness said he watched as a man got out of the van, walked across the grass and approached the porch. He said it appeared the gunman targeted the toddler before turning the gun on the other child and the man.
"He shot the little baby point-blank and then he started shooting. I said 'He's killing everybody,' and I just laid down under the car, and he just casually walked away, got in the van and drove off," he said. "Point-blank he shot the baby and now she's dead, for no reason."
The suspect, an Inkster man, was scheduled to be arraigned late Thursday afternoon.
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