Family members have identified a 3-year-old who was fatally shot at a hotel in Tamarac on Saturday as authorities continued their investigation into the shooting.
The family members identified the 3-year-old shot and killed as De’yonnie Cleveland. They told NBC6 she would’ve turned four next month.
Cleveland was found suffering from a gunshot wound at the Extended Stay America in the 3000 block of West Commercial Boulevard shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Connie Hafley was one of many family members at the scene Saturday afternoon. She said Cleveland was her great-niece and described her as lively and bubbly.
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"Very intelligent, very fun, loving, a very smart little girl,” Hafley said. “It don't make sense, I'm just trying to figure out how, why, what."
Hafley says her brother is Cleveland’s dad, but he was not at the Extended Stay when the shooting happened. However, she got a call from Cleveland’s mother Saturday morning. Hafley said she got in her car and drove from Orlando to Tamarac once she got the news.
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"All she told me when she called my phone that when she woke up she was on the ground dead, that's all she told me and I lost it, I hung up,” Hafley said.
Hafley says she last spoke with her niece and sister-in-law Monday.
"Her mom called and I'm always on FaceTime with her, she said hey auntie, so it was just Monday, I talk with them all the time, so when she called my phone I thought it was her, not knowing she was going to be screaming in my phone,” Hafley said. "My niece gone behind a gun and I don't know how, so please be mindful of these guns that we're carrying."
Broward Sheriff's Office officials said the 3-year-old had been accompanied by a woman at the hotel.
After the shooting, BSO investigators detained two occupants of a U-HAUL truck located in Lauderhill in connection with the fatal incident, but they were later released, officials said.
“Right now we are just trying to cope as best as possible but it’s very hard for us," Hafley said. "We’re still don’t know what’s going on, trying to figure it out and take one day at a time, it’s really, its something I can’t even explain it.”
According to BSO, no arrests have been made and no further details were available.
“They’re looking at every possible scenario to try and determine exactly why this happened and who did this," said BSO spokesperson Claudine Caro.
BSO detectives are investigating how the shooting started and are asking the public for help.
Anyone with information is asked to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
