12-Year-Old Michigan Girl Shot And Killed While Visiting Relatives In West Garfield Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 12-year-old girl from Michigan was shot and killed late Thursday night, while carrying her baby cousin, as she was walking back from a relative's graduation party in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.
She'Nyah O'Flynn's aunt, Courtney O'Flynn, said she sped across state lines after receiving a horrifying 1:30 a.m. wakeup call.
"The first thing I thought is why was she out that late? But she's with family, and it's the summertime. Who would just think somebody's just going to come and shoot this girl?" she said. "I just can't believe they took my niece like that. ... She was holding her baby cousin."
She'Nyah, who lived in Covert, Mich., was making her regular summer visit to her stepfather's home in Chicago at the time. Police said she and her family were on their way home from a graduation party around 11 p.m. Thursday, when two men began shooting on the 4200 block of West Wilcox Street.
She'Nyah was shot in the neck, and a 36-year-old male relative was shot in the leg. She'Nyah was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital. The 36-year-old man who was shot was treated at Stroger and is expected to make a full recovery. Police said She'Nyah and her relative were not the intended targets.
"They had just celebrated a graudation party, and some of the family members were returning when the individual discharged that weapon at them. I mean, for what reason? Then you take a child's life?" crisis responder Andrew Holmes said.
A woman who apparently passed out at the scene was placed on a stretcher, but it was not immediately clear if she went to the hospital.
She'Nyah's family said she loved to dance and play soccer.
Courtney O'Flynn said her niece visited her stepfather in Chicago every summer, and the family never thought they'd have to worry about violence.
"That was my best friend. That was like my daughter," she said. "I've got her tattooed o my wrist. I don't know; like, every day when I came home from school, that was my baby. That was my best friend."
Police said witnesses did not have a detailed description of the shooters. There is a police surveillance camera at one end of the block, and investigators said they were canvassing the area for additional video.
No one was in custody Friday morning. Area North detectives were investigating.
