'Turn yourself in': Police release footage of New Year's Eve shooting that injured 2 girls
Columbus police are not sure who the intended targets were, but the bullets struck 11-year-old Amiyah and 13-year-old Starr. Starr suffered bullet wounds to her foot and leg, while Amiyah was shot multiple times in the back, paralyzing her from the waist down.
Now, six months later, Columbus police, Central Ohio Crimestoppers, and Tiana Hall, the mother of the two girls, are asking for the public's help to identify the shooter and demanding that those involved come forward.
On June 20, Columbus police and Central Ohio Crimestoppers held a media briefing on Trevitt Street, just a few houses down from where the shooting took place, to provide an update on the case. Detective Ryan Steele said they are looking for an orange Dodge Challenger that was seen on that street just minutes before the shooting, which happened at around 11:37 p.m. Steele said that the shooter fired into a bedroom window that was "filled with kids."
According to police, the Challenger fled south on Trevitt Street and turned west on Atcheson Street. Steele said that the city's ShotSpotter sensors — an array of sensors designed to detect gunshots and notify police within a minute — detected the shooting, but it hasn't been helpful in the investigation.
"Help this community. These girls were doing nothing wrong," Steele said. "If anybody knows anything, please step forward. And my message to the shooter is this: turn yourself in."
Hall described how both of her daughters are still suffering in the aftermath of the shooting. Amiyah, who was paralyzed, lost the confidence she had before being shot and restricted to a wheelchair.
Amiyah was doing physical therapy, but the family chose to take a three-month break from the training because of the difficulty.
"Amiyah doesn't want to leave home. She drops her head when she's in public," said Hall. She said that both Amiyah and Starr were too scared to attend the press conference, fearful that the shooter may target them there.
"10 seconds changed my daughters' lives forever," Hall said.
She said she also has to remind Starr that it wasn't her fault that Amiyah was shot and paralyzed.
When asked about what she would say to the shooter and other suspects who were involved, Hall echoed police detectives and asked that they surrender to police.
"No one really cares until it's you," said Hall. "Just turn yourself in."
Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the Columbus police felony assault unit at 614-645-4062 or Central Ohio Crimestoppers at 614-461-8677.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police hold press conference on shooting that hurt two girls
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Five teens charged for murder of homeless woman in Albuquerque
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Albuquerque Police Department charged five teens with the murder of a homeless woman in June. According to APD, the five teens were cruising early in the morning of June 10 when they ran low on gas. A witness told police that the teens decided to rob homeless people for money. Shiprock man facing murder charge in connection to stabbing The teens stopped their vehicle near Central Ave. and Zuni Rd. That's when two of the teens, 17-year-old Terrance Morris and 16-year-old Ean Spencer, got out of the car with guns and approached people in the alleyway demanding money. Someone nearby exited a travel trailer and began shooting at the teens, who returned fire. After moving back, Morris returned and shot two more rounds. The group then fled the scene. Marlene Gutierrez, 35, was hit by a bullet and died. Morris and Spencer, along with 16-year-old Jeffrey Moore, 16-year-old Victoria Belmudez Candlearia, and 17-year-old Jazelle Dudley, were charged with murder among other charges. Four of the teens have been arrested. Police are still searching for Dudley. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Good samaritan who helped 9-year-old after shark attack now detained by ICE — facing possible deportation
A good samaritan who sprang into action to help save a nine-year-old girl after a shark attack in Florida is now being held by ICE agents and is at risk of being deported. Luis Alvarez, 31, was one of several men who intervened in the incident, in Boca Grande, in which the child was attacked by a suspected Bull shark while snorkeling near to the shore. Just days after his heroic actions, Alvarez was stopped about 1:30 a.m. on June 14 while driving without his headlights on. When asked for his license, Alvarez gave officers a picture of his Employment Authorization Card on his phone. According to the arrest report, obtained by USA Today, he told the arresting officer in Spanish that he had been in the country for two and a half years and had never had a driver's license. Alvarez, who is originally from Boaco, Nicaragua, was arrested on a charge of driving without a license and issued a warning for not having his headlights on. He is currently being held at the Collier County Jail by ICE, and may be facing deportation. He is scheduled to go before a judge on July 9, according to court records. Though he has no history of arrest in Collier County, court documents show that Alvarez has been arrested on similar charges of not having a valid license four times in nearby Lee County, Florida. He paid fines or had adjudication withheld by three different judges. In the most recent case, however, the judge issues a D6 suspension in June 24, meaning he had not paid his fine and was unable to apply for a license, according to USA Today. On June 9, nine-year-old Leah Lendel was swimming near shore when she was attacked by a shark, which partially severed her hand, her mother, Nadia Lendel, told NBC Miami at the time. "And then she flies out and like I look over, I don't know if I heard a yell or what, but she went that and I see her hand hanging, like a piece and there's blood everywhere," her mother told police through tears. Police body camera footage captured the moments following the horrifying attack, as rescue crews and several men, including Alvarez, came to the girl's aid. The men wrapped the youngster's hand in towels before she was airlifted to a hospital for emergency surgery. According to her family, the surgeons were able to fix her hand, though she will still require therapy in order for her it to function properly again. Raynel Lugo, who also helped during the attack, told Fox4 News that Alvarez went into the water first to scare the shark. "He jumped in that area to bring her out when I was assisting Leah," Lugo told the outlet. "He went deep underwater, not even caring about the shark. He went really deep. He probably faced the shark."
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Did Trump nab his Hannibal Lecter? At ‘Alligator Alcatraz', Kristi Noem says ICE ‘detained a cannibal'
Hello, Clarice? More than a year after President Donald Trump started making regular mentions of 'the late, great Hannibal Lecter,' the fictional Baltimore psychiatrist turned serial killer, on the campaign trail, it appears the federal government has finally rid the country of a real-life immigrant cannibal. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the eyebrow-raising revelation during an appearance alongside Trump while visiting a makeshift immigrant detention facility in the Florida Everglades that has been dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by Sunshine State officials and the president's supporters. 'They said that they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home, and while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself, and they had to get him off and get him medical attention,' Noem said. The revelation came as Noem detailed the Trump administration's efforts to find and deport millions of migrants who have been living and working in the country, often with official work authorizations, over the last few years. She said the remote Florida facility was going to play a role in removing people who refuse to 'self-deport' or who are caught breaking other laws while here illegally. Noem also said her department is 'going after murderers and rapists and traffickers and drug dealers and getting them off the streets and getting them out of this country.' She went on to accuse Trump's predecessor, former President Joe Biden, of allowing in 'the worst of the worst,' citing an incident described to her by U.S. Marshals who were working with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Noem added that individuals such as that alleged 'cannibal' were 'the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America that we're trying to target and get out of our country because they are so deranged, they don't belong here.' 'They shouldn't be walking the streets with our children, and they shouldn't be living in the communities with our families who just want to grow up ... raise their children to grow up and get a job and to live the American dream,' she added. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Independent that Noem was referring to an incident she'd alluded to in a post to X on June 27 in which she'd posted a photo of herself onboard an 'ICE Air' flight she was using to return from Guatemala after her own plane malfunctioned. The former South Dakota governor's reference to cannibalism evoked Trump's frequent invocation of Dr. Lecter, a serial killer whose first literary appearance was in author Thomas Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon but who later took iconic status based on Sir Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of the character in the 1991 film adaptation of Harris' sequel, The Silence of the Lambs. The president often brought up the character in public remarks during his 2024 presidential campaign, including his acceptance speech at last year's Republican National Convention while discussing the caliber of people who were allegedly migrating into the U.S. under Biden. 'Has anyone seen 'The Silence of the Lambs'? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He'd love to have you for dinner. That's insane asylums. They're emptying out their insane asylums,' he said. Ironically, Trump's frequent claim that he wants to establish a more 'merit-based' immigration system makes the fictional cannibal just the kind of immigrant who would benefit from his plans. According to Harris' 2006 novel, Hannibal Rising, Lecter was the son of a wealthy Lithuanian family whose parents were killed during the Second World War, who later attended medical school in France before being accepted for a residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
