Kennedy Maxie Atlanta 7 year old girl shot dead by stray gunfire while Christmas shopping with her family. No arrests or suspects as gun violence surges.
A 7 year old Atlanta girl has died after being the unintended victim of a shooting while out with her family Christmas shopping.
Kennedy Maxie was hit in the back of the head by a stray bullet while riding in a Lexus with her mother and aunt.
The aunt heard gunfire while driving along Peachtree Road near Phipps Plaza, but did not realize at the time Kennedy had been shot.
When she finally realized what had happened, she rushed Kennedy to Children’s Healthcare at Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where she had been in critical condition until she ultimately succumbed to her injuries on Saturday.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed news of Kennedy’s death to local media on Sunday.
Please pray for the Maxie family. I went to high school with Kennedy’s mom, and I absolutely cannot imagine the pain they are dealing with right now 💔
I hope they find who committed this senseless crime. https://t.co/QX76SJ6KKp— MBA YoungGirl 🔥 (@kLikeTheElement) December 27, 2020
Senseless death
‘Our hearts are broken by the senseless murder of Kennedy,’ Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
‘While the Atlanta Police Department has significant leads in the apprehension of those responsible, it does not erase the pain felt when a beautiful, vibrant, and loving child is tragically taken from her family.
‘We urge the public to continue to provide information that will lead to the arrests of the careless and heartless people responsible for Kennedy’s death.’
Kennedy, who lived in Cobb County had attended Sedalia Park Elementary.
The shooting stemmed out of an argument taking place between several men in the parking lot of Saks Fifth Avenue and is not believed to have involved the little girl.
Police are looking at surveillance footage from the parking lot, but have not yet made any arrests in the shooting nor identified any suspects.
Prior to Kennedy’s death, a $15,000 reward was being offered for information that identified suspects in the incident.
‘I thought it was unbelievable to think a 7-year-old child would be riding with a parent on Peachtree and randomly get shot,’ said Attorney Jackie Patterson, who contributed $5,000 of her own towards the reward.
‘It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to think their child is in the hospital during the Christmas season,’ she said to FOX 5 Atlanta.
A GoFundMe started by Kennedy’s godmother has raised more than $56,570 by Monday night, which had originally been set to go towards medical expenses.
To date, Atlanta has had 155 homicides this year.
2020 is the deadliest year in terms of homicides for the city since 1998. Last year, there were just 99 murders in the city AJC reports.
It remained unclear what action authority figures were taking to stem the increasing tide of gun violence.
