A 2-year-old Tennessee girl who was one of four injured in a Sweetwater shooting on Tuesday died according to her family.
The arrest warrant revealed that the 2-year-old was one of those injured in the shooting. The family of the little girl say that Alayna June Butts died at 11:37 a.m. on Friday, February 17.
According to the warrant, as police were responding to the Hawkins Road Residence for a call that shots were fired, dispatch advised them that a 2-year-old was shot. When police got to the scene, the Alayna Butts had already been taken by Monroe County EMS for treatment. According to police, the Alayna’s mother told them that she had just gotten home from Dollar General and that her two children were in the residence with her two friends and boyfriend.
The warrant says that the Alayna’s mother said she heard a vehicle pull in, and one of the men in the home told her a red pickup truck and a white car were in the driveway. When she opened the door, the warrant states that she told police that she saw four men standing outside: Lemming Huerta, Itzhui Huerta, Liu Huerta and a fourth unidentified man. According to the mother, Lemming Huerta was the driver of the pickup truck, Itzhui Huerta was the passenger of the truck, and Liu Huerta and the unknown man were in the white Nissan car.
The mother told police that with Lenning Huerta standing in front of her at the door and Itzhui Huerta standing beside the door, she saw that “everyone” had firearms out. Allegedly, Lenning Huerta demanded that the mother send out a “white” something and let them in or they would break in. The mother told police that her children were in the doorway near her.
According to the warrant, the mother said she struck Lenning Huerta and Itzhui Huerta with a metal pole multiple times and told them to leave the property, and then Lenning Huerta fired his pistol, striking the child in the head.
The mother told police that she dropped the pole and shoved the child from the doorway into her bedroom and that when she turned, more gunfire had erupted behind her. She told police that she yelled for someone to shoot back, but she was unsure who returned fire.
When police arrived, they found a man, identified as Lenning Huerta, lying dead on the porch and another man lying on the ground in front of a sports utility vehicle with what appeared to be a wound to the top of his forehead, according to the warrant. Police also said that they found two handguns laying in front of the residence.
The mother told police that she saw a man, possibly Liu Huerta or Itzhui Huerta, running toward the white car. The warrant says that the mother said her boyfriend was shot in the stomach, and one of her friends had been shot in the head.
The woman’s boyfriend was taken to the hospital by another friend who was at the residence. The friend who had been shot in the head and the 2-year-old were taken to the hospital by EMS in critical condition.
According to the warrant, Liu Huerta was charged as he was acting with the others who came to the residence and was responsible for their actions. He is facing three counts of attempted first-degree murder, employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, reckless endangerment, attempted aggravated burglary, and aggravated assault. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said that he was arrested Wednesday evening.
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