Aariah Henry: 16-Year-Old Girl Shot Dead Riding With Friends in Louisiana
Aariah Henry, 16, was in a vehicle when she was shot and killed on Sunday, June 2, 2024 in Reserve, Louisiana.
Aariah Henry, 16, was supposed to be spending the night at a friend’s home, but she snuck out to go to a party, her family told local media.
Aariah was riding with two of her girlfriends and some adult males in the early hours on Sunday, June 2, 2024, in Reserve, Louisiana, when they found themselves in a “targeted” shooting, according to law enforcement.
"She wasn't supposed to be at that party. She wasn't supposed to be in that car," her grieving father, Clarence Henry, 37, told the Times-Picayune newspaper. "That was my princess. "She had a heart of gold."
Raised in nearly Marrero, Aariah was the only girl and had four brothers, her family said.
St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said that surveillance video taken from the incident captured another car pulling up alongside the victim’s car at an intersection right before shots rang out. The vehicle then drives off.
The victim and her friends were coming from a party, according to the sheriff. Other than Aariah, inside the victim’s car were two other underage girls and three adult men, Tregre told reporters.
“The three adult males refused to cooperate with law enforcement at all. They wouldn’t talk to us,” Tregre said, according to TV station Fox 8 Live. “Everything we have right now is based on our technology and our crime cameras.”
Whoever did it needs to be stopped immediately, he went on to say.
“They don’t deserve to be on the streets of St. John Parish or any street in our state or country,” said St. John sheriff Mike Tregre. “We have to get them. We have to capture them.”
Aariah succumbed to a gunshot wound in the hip and died sometime after 2 a.m., after being rushed to a St. James Hospital, according to the sheriff.
The suspects’ car – which had been reported stolen out of New Orleans in March – was found on a dead-end street, concealed under some tarp, according to Tregre.
“After receiving witness statements and viewing camera footage, this appears to be a specifically targeted attack,” the St. John Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Detectives do not have any leads at this time.”
Anyone with information on the homicide is asked to call Capt. Brandon Barlow of the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division at (504) 494-2674.
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