Houston wins praise for handling of girl’s drive-by shooting
HOUSTON — Activists praised Houston area law enforcement for pursuing a tip that led to the arrest of an African-American man in the fatal drive-by shooting of a 7-year-old black girl, a turn in the case suggesting the attack was not a hate crime as asserted by the girl’s family and some in the community.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced Sunday that prosecutors had arrested and charged 20-year-old Eric Black Jr. with capital murder in the death of Jazmine Barnes on Dec. 30. Black told investigators he was the driver of the SUV from which a passenger fired into the vehicle and killed Jazmine. Gonzalez said they have identified a second suspect, who also is black, but declined to say if the person is in custody.
The tip that sent the case in a new direction came from social activist and writer Shaun King. Before that tip, police had issued a sketch of a white man based on a description of the shooter provided by Jazmine’s family, and had circulated surveillance video of a red pickup truck he was apparently driving.
The sheriff said there was, in fact, a red pickup truck driven by a white man seen at a stoplight just before the shooting, but the driver did not appear to have been involved. Gonzalez said it was dark, the shooting happened quickly, and the red truck was probably the last thing seen by Jazmine’s family.