An Alabama man and woman have been arrested in the Mobile shooting death of 9-year-old girl’s in an incident that sparked outrage from city officials, police said Thursday.
19-year-old Tyrone Williams and 22-year-old Ariel Curry were identified as suspects in Cailee Knight’s fatal shooting, said Cpl. Katrina Frazier.
Williams and Curry are expected to face felony murder charges in connection with Cailee’s death. They are also to be charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling.
Police responded to a home in the 1000 block of Rhett Drive just after 2 a.m. Tuesday. They arrived to find Cailee suffering from an unknown number of gunshot wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, where she later died.
Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood called the shooting “horrifying and heartbreaking.”
Knight had been asleep on a couch when unknown assailants fired multiple rounds into the home. Several other children were inside the home at the time, but there were no other injuries reported.
“It is horrifying and heartbreaking that a 9-year-old girl was shot and killed while she was asleep in her home,” Blackwood said. “Our children must be protected. The sanctity of our homes must be protected.”
James Barber, Chief of Staff for the City of Mobile, said during the city council meeting later Tuesday that Cailee was shot with an AR-15. Barber also said the suspected target was her 16-year-old brother.
“It’s the fact that a 9-year-old girl was killed this morning sitting on her sofa,” Barber said. “By somebody with an AR-15 rifle. That shouldn’t happen in our community. Children should be safe in their homes.”
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