Arrest in fatal shooting of Houston girl, 8, after traffic crash
HOUSTON -- Houston police have arrested a 19-year-old man for the fatal shooting of an 8-year-old Houston girl following a traffic accident last weekend.
Police Chief Art Acevedo said Wednesday police are withholding name of the man in custody because charges were pending.
The girl’s mother, Latoyia Thomas, told authorities she and her daughter, DeMaree Atkins, were on their way home around 2 a.m. Saturday when their car collided with another car that was speeding with a third car. Someone in one of the speeding vehicles began firing and Thomas’ daughter was killed.
Acevedo says the child and her mother were innocent victims. He says he and Mayor Sylvester Turner believed it was important to announce an arrest because “when someone kills an 8-year-old little girl everyone needs to worry.”