11-Year-Old Honor Student Getting Quart of Milk Is Killed in Shooting That Targeted Teenager

Brexialee Torres-Ortiz.Photo: Facebook

An 11-year-old girl was fatally shot Monday night while she was returning home from buying a quart of milk at a local convenience store.

Syracuse police say the assailant shot Brexialee Torres-Ortiz in the midsection. The fifth grader died at a local hospital.

No arrests have been made in the case.

Onondaga County District attorney William Fitzpatrick said the shooting appeared to be gang-related.

“This poor little angel,” Fitzpatrick said, according to theTheNewYorkTimes. “She just goes out to get a quart of milk for her family.”

At a press conference Tuesday, Syracuse Police Chief Joe Cecile said Brexialee was “caught in the crossfire,“Syracuse.comreports.

The girl was class president of her Blodgett Middle School class and a hall monitor who encouraged her fellow students.

“Always giving them value,” Cecile said, according to Syracuse.com, “and pushing them to succeed.”

She was also in the high honors and dance programs.

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Mayor Ben Walsh said there are “people in our community that know who pulled the trigger last night and know who pulled the trigger on the previous incident in the incident after that,” he said,WAERreports. “And just think if those people were willing or able to step up and share information with us in a way in which they felt safe, we could end this. We could end this crisis.”

Police said there was no connection between Brexialee and the 19-year-old man.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Syracuse Police at 315-442-5222.

source: people.com