A three-year-old girl was killed Friday in the southeast area of Democrat-controlled Washington, DC, when she was hit by a stray bullet.
The victim has been identified as Ty’ah Settles, who lived in Southeast D.C., and her family is overcome with grief by the loss, NBC Washington reported.
The child’s godfather said, “These senseless killings of these children, toddlers, infants, adolescents, have got to stop, it has got to cease. Ty’ah will be missed dearly. She would be loved dearly.”
The little girl was hit while riding in a vehicle on Hartford Street SE as the car was reportedly caught up in an exchange of gunfire. So far, law enforcement officers do not have a motive or a suspect in the case.
Following the shooting, the victim was found in a firehouse before being flown to Children’s hospital where she was pronounced deceased.
Video footage shows police vehicles at the scene where they blocked off a large portion of the neighborhood to investigate.
The incident happened around 9:00 p.m. when someone brought the injured child to the firehouse:
It is important to note that in 2023, Washington, DC, recorded the highest annual number of homicides the city has witnessed since 1997 even though citizens are under strict gun control measures, Breitbart News reported in January.
In February, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to say that Washington, DC, is safe for visitors when a reporter told her that crime was on the rise.
She eventually said, “The president is wanting to make sure that communities feel safe, and we’re not seeing that from congressional Republicans, we’re just not. They continue to get in the way.”
Meanwhile, video footage shows five vehicles on Hartford Street with bullet holes in them, according to WUSA 9:
“Damn, we lost a little girl in our community for absolutely nothing,” D.C. Councilman Trayon White, who represents the neighborhood, told the outlet.
Authorities are still investigating the shooting and anyone with more information is asked to call police.