6-year-old Aniya Allen Parents Plead Justice, the family members of two Minneapolis toddlers killed by stray gunfire say the killings, which remain unsolved, haunt them, according to KSTP-TV.
Terrell Junior, a 3-year-old boy, was shot by a bullet fired into his family’s home on December 26, 2011, only a day after Christmas. Someone started firing outside while the youngster was playing.
The shooting was a random act, according to police, and no one inside the house was a target. Investigators have yet to determine who fired the pistol.
Marsha Mayes, Terrell’s mother, recently told the news station, “It feels like it was just yesterday.”
“There’s no way you can keep hanging onto a 3-year-death old’s when you know about it,” the mother said, according to KSTP-TV.
Community activist KG Wilson understands Mayes’ feelings. On May 17, 2021, a stray gunshot killed his 6-year-old granddaughter.
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At the time, the youngster, Aniya Allen, was sitting in the backseat of her family’s vehicle, eating a McDonald’s Happy Meal, when multiple gunshots were fired in the area. One of the bullets hit Aniya in the head.
Authorities have not found the person who killed Aniya, as they did in Terrell’s case, however, investigators suspect the same pistol was used in a bar shooting days earlier, according to FOX 9.
According to KARE 11, a guy charged in connection with the bar shooting refused to answer questions about Aniya’s death, and officials have not charged him.
“There is no justice, man, and that is a nightmare,” Wilson told KSTP-TV. “I don’t know how this individual, who did this or individuals who did this, can continue to carry this around. I’m not sure how people can celebrate Christmas and have this inside of them.”
Aniya’s mother is being supported financially through a GoFundMe campaign.
Prosecutors lament their inability to hold those responsible for the homicide accountable. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who is set to leave at the end of the year, said he planned to hold the shooters accountable during his tenure.
“We have not brought their murderers to justice. We just haven’t figured out who did it. People are refusing to cooperate,” Freeman told KSTP-TV. “Those are the ones who haunt me,” she says.
Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 if you have any information regarding either case. A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
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