10-Year-Old Girl Shot In Head By Stray Bullet Remains On Life Support
ELK NECK, Md. (WJZ)—A heartbroken family is searching for answers after a sudden and senseless tragedy. Someone fired a gun into the air to celebrate the New Year.
Mike Hellgren reports it left a little girl fighting for her survival.
It was a joyous New Year celebration shattered by needless gunfire.
Ashleigh Rice watched her 10-year-old niece Aaliyah Boyer collapse as she watched New Year's fireworks outside of a relative's home in Elk Neck, a small community in Cecil County.
At first, she had no idea what happened.
"She had blood on her head, blood in her hair. I felt her head. I was trying to figure out where the blood was coming from. She just had a big lump on her head," Rice recalled.
She soon learned the truth: someone, somewhere nearby fired a gun in celebration, and that bullet lodged in Aaliyah's head.
"The bullet went in like right here on her head. It went in her head, went back right back into her brain stem," Rice said. "At this point they can't even remove the bullet to try to compare or to see what kind of gun it was or where it was shot from."
Depending on the type of weapon, authorities say it could have been fired from a mile and a half away.
"I just want whoever did do this to come clean if they think that it's them because I think everyone around needs to know that shooting guns is not good. The bullets have to go somewhere," said Katie Shoap, relative.
No one has been arrested, and the little girl -- whose loved ones describe as sweet and fun-loving -- remains on life support. Her prognosis is not good.
"They've done a lot of testing to try to find any signs of life," Rice said. "She has no kind of brain activity."
Right now she remains at a hospital in Delaware. Her family is praying for a miracle.
The Cecil County Sherriff's Office is asking for anyone who can provide information on whom fired that weapon to call them.
