George Floyd’s Grandniece, 4, Shot While Sleeping in Houston Bedroom

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By ShaCamree Gowdy Published: January 6, 2022

George Floyd’s Grandniece, 4, Shot While Sleeping in Houston Bedroom

Family members and supporters participate in a march to protest the death of George Floyd in Houston on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. Floyd's four-year-old grandniece Arianna, who was reportedly front and centers during rallies in his honor, was shot while she slept in her bedroom on January 1, 2022. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

In Summary

The four-year-old grandniece of George Floyd was reportedly struck when bullets were fired into her home while she slept on New Year’s Day.

George Floyd’s family is in grief once again after his four-year-old grandniece was apparently shot while sleeping in her Houston bedroom, as reported by PEOPLE.

“A suspect or suspects fired several shots into an apartment … as four adults and two children were inside the apartment,” HPD Major Assaults & Family Violence Division Detectives A. Carroll and J. Roberts said of the shooting, which happened shortly before 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

The child victim was hit in the torso and rushed to the hospital, where she underwent surgery and is expected to recover, according to investigators.

Several local news agencies have identified the victim as Floyd’s grandniece Arianna, however Houston police have yet to confirm her name. Her father has also confirmed her identity in an interview with KTRK-13 News.

“My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit,’ and I was shocked until I seen the blood and I realized my 4-year-old daughter was really hit,” Delane told KTRK. “She didn’t know what was going on. She was asleep.”

KTRK reporter Mycah Hatfield in a tweet that Arianna was front and center as residents and activists in Houston and beyond marched and rallied for her uncle following his murder in May 2020.

This is 4-year-old Arianna. She was front and center at the marches and rallies in her Uncle George Floyd’s case.

On Saturday around 3 a.m., her father tells me she was asleep in her bed when someone fired several shots at their apartment. Arianna was hit in her torso. pic.twitter.com/Cpo1oFwase
— Mycah Hatfield (@MycahABC13) January 4, 2022

Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, kneeled in Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes on May 25, 2020, killing him. Chauvin was sentenced to 270 months, or 22.5 years in prison on counts of second and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Officers Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao, who were all present but did not interfere, are slated to stand trial in March.

Delane confirmed his daughter suffered a pierced lung and liver, as well as three broken ribs, but she is on the mend.

Officials’ response time to the “senseless” shooting was delayed, according to confirmation from Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, who added that the investigation is still ongoing. He noted that when authorities finally arrived on scene, the victim had been transported to the hospital by private vehicle.

“I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation,” Finner said in a statement via Twitter. “I ask the city 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.”

There is no suspect information or motive known at this time.

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.