Chassidy Saunders was shot along with two other people when gunfire rang out around 7 p.m. outside of a home where a 2-year-old's birthday party was being held in Model City. Two adults were also wounded.
A young 6-year-old girl leaving her friend's birthday party on Saturday was struck dead after getting caught in a triple cross-fire, according to reports. Chassidy Saunders was shot along with two other people when gunfire rang out around 7 p.m. outside of a home where a 2-year-old's birthday party was being held in Model City, the Miami Herald reported. Two adults were also wounded.
Family friends and loved ones called the young girl "TikTok princess" on their social media.
“Cassidy was a six-year-old with a bright and promising future,” her aunt wrote on Facebook, the Miami Herald reported.
"She was a diva, a real diva," the child's grandmother, Sheri Cullins, told WTJV. "She loved lipstick, makeup, and hair and nails and lip gloss."
Neighbors told reporters they heard as many as 20 gunshots fired.
"When I came outside, I seen the little girl on the floor," one neighbor, who heard the shots, told WTVJ. "The lady was holding her, trying to comfort her. She was scared and you could hear the little girl crying."
The Herald reported that the Miami police department refused to provide information regarding her death on Monday. Inside Edition Digital also made several attempts to contact the department Thursday.
The Herald cited multiple law enforcement sources who said that the shooter was inside of a passing black car. Investigators are looking into whether the intended targets were a man and his girlfriend, who were both seated in a blue Hyundai outside the home. They were two of the three people who were shot.
The outlet said sources told them that a party goer returned gunshots and as Chassidy and her family were leaving, they were caught in the middle. It's unclear which bullet struck the young girl.
Chassidy was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital where she died on Sunday.
Katherine Fernandez, the State Attorney wrote a heartfelt statement following the young girl's passing.
“It is heart-rending that 6-year-old Chassidy Saunders dies a victim of gun violence on the eve of a day dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., a prince of peace and justice," Fernandez wrote. "This beautiful child should not have been victimized by those who believe only in violence and death."
Adding, “I know that the City of Miami police and my prosecutors will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to obtain justice for Chassidy.”
There have been no arrests made in the shooting as of Thursday.
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