A NFL player stepped up to contribute to the growing reward fund for Jazmine Barnes, the 7-year-old Houston girl who was gunned down in a Walmart parking lot.
On Thursday, DeAndre Hopkins announced he will donate his NFL playoff check — $29,000 — to pay funeral expenses and help authorities find the gunman who shot and killed Jazmine on Dec. 30.
The Houston Texans wide receiver announced the donation on Twitter.com, saying he plans to donate his playoff check from the upcoming AFC wildcard game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday. The funds will assist the family with funeral expenses for Jazmine.
“When I see Jazmine Barnes’ face, I see my own daughter… On Saturday, I will be playing in your honor, Jazmine,” Hopkins tweeted.
Jazmine’s mom, LaPorsha Washington, 30, told police she was taking her four daughters, ages 6 to 16, to Joe V’s to get coffee at 7 a.m. Sunday morning when a man in a red, 4-door pickup truck drove by and opened fire into the car.
Washington told a reporter the man stopped the truck and fired a second volley of bullets into the car through the front windshield.
Jazmine was pronounced dead at the scene. Washington was struck in the arm by a bullet, and two of her daughters were injured by flying glass.
Police say the attack was unprovoked, but they are not leaving out the possibility of road rage.
The reward fund has grown to $100,000.
Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
