The 4-year-old girl who was shot in southwest Houston on New Year’s Day has been identified as the niece of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. The family identified the child as Arianna Delane.
Her father, Derrick Delane, said their apartment in the 3300 block of Yellowstone Blvd. was hit several times by gunfire just before 3 a.m. on January 1. The gunfire that entered the second story hit the child who was asleep in the front bedroom.
“My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit’ and I was shocked until I saw the blood and I realized my 4-year-old daughter was hit,” Delane recalled. “She didn’t know what was going on. She was asleep.”
The girl’s mother drove her to the hospital where she underwent surgery and was stabilized. The family said she has a punctured lung and liver and three broken ribs. She remains hospitalized. Her father feels fortunate that she was not killed in the shooting.
Houston police said Tuesday they do not have a suspect or motive in this case. Delane said he has reason to believe their home was targeted.
“Why would my house get shot up?” the father said. “My daughter doesn’t know. I can’t explain that to her. As the father, you’re supposed to protect the kids.”
Late Tuesday afternoon, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner launched an Internal Affairs investigation into the department’s response time to the shooting. Arianna’s father said police didn’t arrive until 7 a.m., more than four hours after the time of the incident. HPD would not give a timeline of events because of the investigation.
“I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation. I ask the city to continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible,” Finner said in a statement.
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