Man, girlfriend and grandmother charged in shooting death of 11-year-old Miami girl
MIAMI — A man and his girlfriend and the grandmother of an 11-year-old girl are facing charges after the child was found shot to death inside the family's Miami apartment.
The incident took place on Tuesday in an apartment complex at 200 NW 17th St., just south of Wynwood.
Charlene Ann Webster, 69, told police she was in her bedroom with the girl's father, 40-year-old Titato Clarke, when they heard a loud bang come from the kids' bedroom at around noon.
Clarke ran to the room and found his daughter, 11-year-old Taliyah Clarke, and her 9-year-old brother. The girl was bleeding from a gunshot wound to her chest.
The family members rushed the girl to Jackson Memorial Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery. She later died.
"That girl deserves justice, man," a witness told CBS News Miami. "If life matters, like I said, that could've been my niece or something."
Webster told police at the time of the shooting that she, Clarke and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Nancy Severe, were all living in the apartment along with three children.
At the hospital, Clarke told officers "several inconsistent stories" about how his daughter was shot, according to police.
A records check showed Clarke had been convicted of 12 felonies. Around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, police executed a search warrant at the apartment. In the kid's bedroom, they found a single bullet casing on the floor near a dog cage. On top of the cage, they found a .40 caliber Glock wrapped inside a pink scarf and brown blanket.
"If it was really a driveby — come on now, I would've heard it," the witness said. "And, I probably would've made the call."
Clarke, Severe and Webster were then taken into custody and have been charged with aggravated manslaughter. When they appeared in bond court Wednesday, the judge stated they were all charged accordingly because they were considered to be the girl's caregiver under Florida statute.