Questions emerge about the shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes who was gunned down as she sat in the family car with her mom and siblings near a Walmart in Houston, Texas early Sunday.
Jazmine’s funeral service is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 8. NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is covering the funeral expenses.
The shooting incident occurred around 6:30 am-7am on Sunday, Dec. 30. LaPorsha Washington told police she took her four daughters, including Jazmine, to a grocery store to pick up coffee for an uncle.
Washington, 30, said she was sitting at a stop light at Wallisville Road when a red pickup truck without a license plate pulled alongside her vehicle and the driver opened fire into her car.
“As I turned around and looked back at the street, I heard shots start firing and they came through my window, broke my glass, and hit me in my arm. They sped off in front of us and the truck slowed down and continued to fire as he was in front of us. It was not fair. It was not fair. He intentionally killed my child for no reason. He didn’t even know her, he didn’t know who she was,” Washington told ABC13.
Washington was shot in the arm. Her 15-year-old daughter, Alxis Dilbert, and a 6-year-old daughter were injured by flying glass.
Washington said she wasn’t aware that Jazmine was shot until her daughter Ebonee Dilbert, 13, told her Jazmine wasn’t moving or talking.
Washington later said she knew her daughter was dead when she turned on the car’s interior light to look at Jazmine who was seated behind her.
Instead of calling 911, Washington drove around until her daughter flagged down another vehicle.
Jazmine and her daughters gave police conflicting descriptions of the suspect. He was originally described as a white male in his 40s with a beard and a pot belly. He wore a red hoodie.
This description, plus a still image of the suspect’s vehicle — a red four door pickup truck — were circulated to the media by Houston police.
On Thursday, police released a composite sketch of the suspect based on a new description provided by Alxis. She described the suspect as a “sick and skinny” white male, possibly in his 30s or 40s, with blue eyes and no beard. Instead of a red hoodie, he wore a black hoodie.
Social media users questioned how Alxis could see the suspect’s eye color inside his darkened vehicle. The shooting occurred between 6:30am-7am. The sun rises in Houston at 7:17am.
Questions also surround the description of the suspect’s vehicle.
Car aficionados on social media say the vehicle in the blurred surveillance image appears to be an older model single cab 2 door pickup truck — not a four door extended cab pickup as was widely reported in the news media.
The motive for the murder is still unknown. There are rumors that the shooting was drug-related. Washington and Jazmine’s father, Chris Cevilla, reportedly have 14 felony arrests between them.
A Gofundme account set up by the family has raised over $65,880 — far exceeding the original goal of $6,500.
A reward fund created by transracial activist Shaun King and civil rights attorney Lee Merritt has grown to $100,000.
