Gabrielle Hill-Carter: 8-year-old girl shot in head while riding her bike
Gabrielle Hill-Carter was a smart, kind 8-year-old who attended a charter school in Camden, New Jersey. She was destined for greatness. Now she's dead.
Gabrielle, or Gabby, as she was affectionately called, was shot in the head while riding her bike on a Camden street on August 24, 2016. Police said the shooting was gang-related. Several men started shooting at another man as part of an ambush, and Gabby was hit in the crossfire.
She was hospitalized in critical condition for two days before she the family gathered at her bedside and decided to take her off life support. Gabby closed her eyes for good on August 26.
"I love my baby so much and I wish she was still here," Gabby's mother Marissa told NBC Philadelphia.
There were no arrests made in the days after the shooting, which stunned the Camden community.
"Feel the pain that the family is feeling and then come forward," Darryl Mack, the girl's uncle, told NBC Philadelphia. "See the visuals. Hear our voices."
While police searched for the killer, a reward for information on the gunman's arrest reached $76,000 with help from the FBI, and Philadelphia 76ers. Soon police arrested 18-year-old Tyhan Brown, who was found in Tennessee. To get the arrest, police had to bring obstruction charges against Brown's mother, Shakia Land and another woman, Natasha Gerald, who both gave detectives false information about the teenager, according to NBC News.
Some of the $76,000 reward came from Vahan and Danielle Gureghian, founders of the charter school where Gabby attended.
"While nothing will bring back Gabby, and a suspect's capture will do little to ease her family's grief, it sends a clear message to others who would dare endanger a child -- you will be caught no matter how far you run," the Gureghians said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
Brown is charged with first-degree murder.
One week after Gabrielle was killed, her mother gave birth to a baby boy. She named him King Gabrielle in honor of her lost child, according to NJ.com.
