Twitter screenshot Jazmine Barnes
As law enforcement is hunting her killer, her family and a community are grieving 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, who was shot to death while riding in a car with her mother and sisters Sunday morning in Texas.
And so too are everyday people, celebs, and public figures all grieving but also demanding justice.
A white man in a pickup truck pulled up next to them and began shooting. Jazmine was shot and killed. Her mother, LaPorsha Washington, 30, sustained a gunshot wound to her arm. The killer is at large. He’s described as white, in his 40s, driving a red pickup truck.
There’s a $100,000 reward for the person who provides information that leads to his capture.
A Harris County Sheriff’s spokesman said they received a call about a shooting at around 7 a.m. Sunday. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found Washington’s vehicle stopped on the side of the main lanes of a beltway and inside were the family; Washington and her daughters, Jazmine, two girls under 15 and a 6-year-old, who was injured possibly by shattered glass. The teens were physically unharmed.
But Jazmine was shot and died before paramedics could get her to a hospital.
Jazmine was a second grader at Monahan Elementary School where the school community is trying to process her murder. Her mother, still hospitalized, says the slaying of her child is unfathomable and told reporters the attack was seemingly random. The man just pulled up and opened fire, she said.
Here’s how people are reacting:
Many are demanding the killer be caught & there be justice for Jazmine
“Weeping this morning for the family of Jazmine Barnes. It’s not fair. It’s just not fair.”
Bernice King is demanding justice for the murdered child and importantly, a sweeping systemic change in the cultural climate.
Jazmine Barnes. Seven. A little girl, her small body shattered by gunfire. Her murderer will be found. Justice will also include us interrogating, challenging and transforming the climate and culture which created the murderer. t.co/Ew62AXyoTC
“Jazmine Barnes. Seven. A little girl, her small body shattered by gunfire. Her murderer will be found. Justice will also include us interrogating, challenging and transforming the climate and culture which created the murderer.”
Find him! This evil monster must be stopped!
“Find him! This evil monster must be stopped!”
Justice for #JazmineBarnes and her family.
Many see a disturbing pattern
Jazmine Barnes should be alive.
“It is open season. We can’t close our eyes to what has been unleashed in this nation. This murderer must be found. And Jazmine’s family must be embraced, supported and loved through this horrific ordeal.”
It is open season. We can’t close our eyes to what has been unleashed in this nation. This murderer must be found. And Jazmine’s family must be embraced, supported and loved through this horrific ordeal.
Many are asking for the public’s support for the family
The father of 7 year old Jazmine Barnes, who was murdered this past Sunday in a Walmart parking lot, has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses.
Please support in their time of need. Such a horrible thing. 😢
“Please support in their time of need. Such a horrible thing. ?”
The father of 7 year old Jazmine Barnes, who was murdered on Sunday in a Walmart parking lot, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the family pay for funeral expenses.
Please show love and support. Your generosity has no limit. 💔
“The father of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, who was murdered on Sunday in a Wal-Mart parking lot, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the family pay for funeral expenses.
Please show love and support. Your generosity has no limit. ?”
Houston's police chief Art Acevedo thanked activist and journalist Shaun King for getting the word out.
@MichaelSkolnik @shaunking Thank you for getting the word out and for raising and offering the reward money. We need justice for Jazmine and all of the untold victims of violence in our country. Someone out there knows who is responsible. Please spread the word far and wide.
“Thinking of Jazmine Barnes' family today. I can't imagine the pain.”
Thinking of Jazmine Barnes’ family today. I can’t imagine the pain.