Anaya Zachary, 14 year old honor roll student shot & killed by 13 year old classmate wearing black mask outside of Bayton, Texas apartment complex playground minutes after altercation on school bus on the way home as girl’s Godmother, Sonya Stanford searches for answers.
A 14 year old Texas girl was shot and killed by a 13 year old boy while playing at a playground outside of an apartment complex, in Baytown, just outside Houston, Friday afternoon. The girl’s shooting death came just minutes after the boy and girl becoming embroiled in a dispute on a school bus while riding home.
Anaya Zachary, an honor roll student, according to her family, was shot four times by her classmate just on 4 p.m, local time on Friday, March 21, while playing outside the Village Lane apartment complex, Fox 26 reported.
Anaya was taken to hospital and was later pronounced dead. A representative from the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District stated the fatal shooting taking place after school near the victim’s residence, ABC 13 reported.
Baytown parents charged after teen son used unsecured gun to kill classmate
Baytown, Texas apartment complex shooting comes just minutes after 14 year old girl and 13 year old classmate ‘got into it’ while returning home on school bus
Sonya Stanford, a woman who told KPRC 2 that she was Anaya’s godmother, said the shooting occurred after the teen and her classmate — whose identity has not been shared by police due to the fact that he is a minor and who both attended, Baytown Junior Middle School — ‘got into it’ on the bus on the way home from school that day.
She claimed that the boy later showed up at the playground where Anaya was hanging out wearing a ‘black mask.’
‘Her and the little boy got into it on the bus, and he got off the bus, he went home, he came back, he went home again. Anaya came in and asked me, ‘Tia, can I go outside?’’ Stanford told the outlet.
She continued: ‘He went home, put on all black, put on a black mask, and came back and called my baby’s name and he shot my baby four times.’
‘She was a sweet kid, an honor roll student. Never had no problems. ‘Yes ma’am, no ma’am. Thank you, no thank you.’ This was a sweet baby,’ Stanford further recalled.
Victim’s Godmother holds 13 year old Baytown boy’s parents accountable
Stanford said she learned from her daughter that Anaya had never bullied the boy, but the two didn’t get along.
Stanford said that had she known about the altercation, she would have gone to the boy’s parents with Anaya to resolve the issue before it escalated.
‘If I knew there was an altercation, me being who I am again, I would’ve went to the little boy’s parents with Anaya to see if we can get this resolved because stuff like this occurs all the time, but this does not make any sense at all,’ she said.
Stanford also said that while she ‘forgives’ the boy who shot her goddaughter, she does not understand why he had access to a gun at home. She added that she holds the boy’s parents partly responsible for the girl’s slaying.
‘You should have put your weapon up so your 13-year-old son wouldn’t have gotten this gun and shot my child. I am very hurt, I am very disappointed,’ she said.
Stanford said that Anaya had been living with her at the apartment complex for the past year. The whereabouts of the girl’s parents and immediate family was not immediately clear.
Authorities have not said what charges the teen boy faces or whether his parents could be charged. The boy remains in police custody as authorities continue to investigate.
