Police in Ohio are trying to identify two persons of interest in connection with a 17-year-old girl killed after a fight near a Kroger grocery store.
17-year-old Aniyah Elie was shot by a person in a car around 9:45 p.m. Sunday near the intersection of East 11th Avenue and North Fourth Street in Columbus.
Columbus detectives said there was a fistfight in a Kroger parking lot along North High Street with a dozen people involved.
The two groups came together again near the intersection of East 11th Avenue and North Fourth Street, where a shot was fired from one of the vehicles, striking Aniyah.
Aniyah was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital where she later died.
“I heard about five or six gunshots go off,” said 14-year-old Joe Kim who heard the shooting from his home.
“It’s mostly every day now,” said Kim. “People die every day because of guns.”
Family members said Aniyah just graduated from Focus North Academy and was at the top of her class.
Aniyah, who was set to celebrate her 18th birthday in a few weeks, was getting ready to begin a job with the U.S. Job Corps at the end of the month.
Relatives setup a GoFundMe account to assist with burial and funeral expenses. You can donate here.
Aniyah is the fourth teen within the past week to die from gun violence in Columbus.
“We are seeing fights leading to shootings and murder,” said Thell Robinson III, the founder of “Halt The Violence”, a community group that offers mentoring and services to families.
Robinson says fights that end with gunfire have got to stop.
“It sounds lame in the street culture,” said Robinson, “because everything is met with violence, we have to watch young adults and offer non-violent alternatives.”
“Kids shooting themselves, it’s not really good,” said Kim.
Anyone with information is asked to call Columbus Police at 614-645-4983.
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