A seven-year-old girl from Georgia died days after being hit by a stray bullet during a Christmas shopping trip with her family, local media reported. Kennedy Maxie died Saturday night at a local hospital where she was being treated, the Fulton County coroner’s office told CBS WGCL.
The girl lived in Cobb County and attended a local elementary school, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Our hearts are broken by Kennedy’s senseless murder,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a statement posted to the station. “While the Atlanta police department has significant advantages in apprehending those responsible, it does not erase the pain it feels when a beautiful, vibrant, and loving child is tragically swallowed up by his family.”
Atlanta Police through WGCL
According to the Atlanta police department, the girl was shot in the head while riding in a car with her mother and aunt on Dec. 21 after leaving a popular Atlanta mall. The boy’s aunt told police he heard gunshots and when she realized the boy had been shot, she continued to drive to a hospital.
Investigators believe the shot may have been fired during a dispute between several men in the parking lot of a Saks Fifth Avenue, Atlanta Police Lt. Pete Malecky said last week. Malecky said police do not believe the child, car or any of his relatives were the intended target of the shootings. It is unclear whether one or more people opened fire during the dispute, Malecky said. No one else was injured.
Malecky said investigators were combing surveillance videos to try to identify one or more suspects.
“We, at APD, feel sick every time we hear that another person was shot, seriously injured or killed by gun violence,” the department said in a statement. “It’s especially disturbing when young children are victims of these events.”
The child’s death occurs as homicides occur in the Atlanta area and across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. The murder resulted in 155 murders in the city this year, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, making 2020 the deadliest year in the city since at least 1998. With days to go before the end of the year , the number of homicides in 2020 in Atlanta has risen more than 50% since last year, when police investigated the 99.
A study of homicide data from 21 U.S. cities, including Atlanta through the end of October, found that there were 610 more homicides in the summer and fall of 2020 than during the same period in 2019. homicide rates increased 42% during the summer and 34% in the fall compared to the summer and fall of 2019, the study found.
“We’re seeing a unique increase in gun violence here across the subway and nationwide, and it’s very worrying,” Atlanta police interim chief Rodney Bryant said.
A $ 15,000 reward is offered for information leading to an arrest for the child’s death.