A gunman opened fire on a car carrying two women and two small children in Little Haiti Friday night, killing a seven-year-old girl and critically wounding an adult passenger.
Police can't yet identify a motive in the crime or say what circumstances may have led someone to shoot up the vehicle.
"We don't know if this was somebody standing on the street or if the car was being followed," Miami police spokesman Willie Moreno told the Miami Herald. "We have more questions than answers.''
A witness, Sheena Fernandez, said she heard "five or six shots" about 9 p.m. in the area of Northwest Miami Place and 64th Street. Approaching the scene, Fernandez saw an injured woman screaming for help, saying "my baby was was shot.''
That woman, a 24-year-old, was transported to Ryder Trauma Center where she remains in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
The seven-year-old girl, whom relatives identified as Yahnya Ware, was shot through the back in the rear of the car. First responders were able to momentarily revive the girl after finding no pulse, but she died en route to hospital.
Another female adult passenger and a three-year-old girl were also in the car, but were not injured.
Local
Ware's aunt and cousins described her as a smart girl who loved going to Miami Shores Elementary School and dreamed of being a cheerleader.
"She was a happy girl," Romie Barlatier told the Herald. "She was our princess."
