7-year-old killed by stray bullet when fight erupts at family gathering, GA police say
One person has been arrested and another remains on the run following a shooting that killed a 7-year-old girl in Atlanta over the weekend, authorities said.
Ava Phillips was struck by a stray bullet on Saturday, Aug. 27, when a fight escalated into gunfire during a family gathering at an apartment complex on Jackson Street, according to Atlanta police. Authorities said Ava was shot in the head and died at the scene.
Police were alerted to the incident just after 10:15 p.m. No one else was injured.
“Any death is tragic, but when there is a child involved it really hits home,” Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a news conference early Sunday.
A man was seen leaving the apartment shortly after the incident, Hampton added.
Authorities obtained warrants for two people suspected in the deadly shooting and identified them as 23-year-old Deshon Collins and 44-year-old Kemeka Springfield, police wrote in a news release. Springfield was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Collins is not in custody as of Aug. 29 and has warrants for several offenses including murder, cruelty to children and aggravated assault, according to police.
Now, Ava’s family is struggling to pick up the pieces after their sudden loss.
“This is just unbearable pain…the worst thing imaginable,” her father, Jonathan Phillips, told WAGA.
Phillips said he dropped his two children off at their mother’s home for the weekend, unaware that it would be the last time he would see his only daughter, according to the news station.
“She was a good girl, man, the baby girl, man. … I got three boys. … That was my baby girl,” Phillips told WAGA.
The 7-year-old was always “full of joy and would brighten any room,” the grieving father also wrote on a GoFundMe page launched on the family’s behalf. It’s unclear if funeral arrangements have been announced.
Police said the shooting remains under investigation.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 11:41 AM with the headline "7-year-old killed by stray bullet when fight erupts at family gathering, GA police say."