HOUSTON, TX — Tips are continuing to pour in as local authorities continue their dogged search for the person who randomly gunned down a 7-year-old girl on Sunday morning.
Jazmine Barnes was brutally murdered on Dec. 30, as her mother drove with her and her siblings along the service road on Sam Houston Parkway and Wallisville Road at about 7 a.m.
Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, described a white man wearing a red hoodie and driving a reds four-door pickup who drove up next to her and started shooting at her car.
Update from @SheriffEd_HCSO regarding the shooting death of 7-year-old #JazmineBarnes. #HouNews #JusticeForJazmine https://t.co/MpYF7FzOLm
— HCSOTexas (@HCSOTexas) January 2, 2019
“Our top priority for me personally, and our agency, is to bring justice for Jazmine,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “This has impacted all of our community…we don’t want anyone else to be harmed in any way.”
Gonzalez said investigators are following up on several leads and are hoping to have a composite sketch released sometime Thursday.
Meanwhile, the reward for information leading to the arrest of the gunman has grown to $75,000 through various contributions and donations.
Among them is Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who tweeted Thursday that he will be donating this weekend’s playoff pay check to the family to pay expenses, and to support the efforts of a cash reward for the suspects capture.
When I see Jazmine Barnes’ face, I see my own daughter. I’m pledging my playoff check this week to help her family with funeral costs and to support @shaunking @SherriffED_HCSO @SylvesterTurner in bringing this man to justice. On Saturday, I will be playing in your honor, Jazmine pic.twitter.com/oCRYSgfGO9
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) January 3, 2019
New York City civil rights activists Shaun King and attorney Lee Merritt initially offered a $35,000 reward, but donations have increased that amount.
Deric Muhammad, a Houston area civil rights activist, said Wednesday that a shooting in 2017 where a black man was wounded by a white man driving a pickup was connected Sunday’s fatal shooting, and was likely racially motivated.
However, Gonzalez said investigators are looking into that case, and although the cases are similar investigators don’t know if there is a connection or if race played a role.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
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Image: HCSO
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