16-year-old girl shot dead by stray bullet through wall while watching movie at home on July 4th

A 16-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet that entered her Georgia home while she was watching a movie on Saturday night.

Rasheedah Evans was sitting on a couch inside the College Park home when the bullet came through the wall in the living room and fatally struck her around 11pm, police told WXIA-TV.

The stray bullet hit the Banneker High School honor roll student behind the ear killing her instantly, WSB-TV reported. No one else was at the home at the time of the incident, police said.

Investigators said they believe the gunshot was the result of celebratory gunfire during the Fourth of July holiday weekend and that the girl’s death was unintentional, WSB-TV reported.

Fulton County police said they were seeking to question 23-year-old Marcel Smith who they identified as a ‘person of interest’ in the case.

Investigators believe Smith might have been with a group of Fourth of July revelers who were shooting celebratory fireworks and gunshots, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Rashid Salaam, the girl’s stepfather, said he found her unresponsive inside the home after hearing gunshots near the house.

Her uncle, Patrick Muhammad, told WSB-TV that Smith is their neighbor who police have not been able to locate.

‘We are a loving family and a forgiving family, with an accident. Let it remain an accident, but fleeing the scene and not turning yourself in allows us not to be believers in accidents,’ Muhammad said.

The teen’s family said they are grieving and working to understand how the event unfolded.

‘It is believed that the gunshot that killed (Evans)… was celebratory in nature and that the bullet that struck the victim was unintentional,’ Fulton County police spokesman Lt. Scott McBride said.

‘But we need to speak to Mr Smith so that we can confirm these details.’

McBride stressed that Smith is ‘only wanted for questioning at this time’.

Source: The DailyMail