George Floyd’s niece recovering after ‘targeted’ shooting in Houston; police took hours to arrive
Bullets struck Arianna Delane, 4, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day while she slept in her bedroom.
The 4-year-old niece of George Floyd was shot in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day when gunfire entered the second story of her home while she was asleep in her bedroom.
According to a local report, Arianna Delane was shot several times and called out to her father, Derrick Delane, saying, “Daddy, I’ve been hit.” He said he was shocked when he saw blood on his daughter.
The young girl was rushed to the hospital by her mother. She underwent surgery for a punctured lung, three broken ribs and a damaged liver.
The girl’s father feels that it’s possible that their home was targeted.
“Why would my house get shot up?” the father said. “My daughter don’t know. I can’t explain that to her. As the father, you’re supposed to protect the kids.”
According to Delane, Houston Police did not arrive at their southwest Houston home until 7 a.m. — more than four hours after the shooting. Chief Troy Finner said an internal probe has begun into “the delayed response time.”
“I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation,” he said in a statement. “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.”
Derrick Delane said his daughter is on the mend. “She’s healing very fast. Last time I checked on her, she was breathing on her own. She was doing real great.”
There currently is no suspect in the Jan. 1 shooting, and Houston Police want anyone with information into the child case to call their Major Assaults and Family Violence Division or Crime Stoppers at (713) 308-8800 and (713) 222-8477 respectively.
According to TMZ, young Arianna is the great-niece of Floyd, who was killed in May 2020 by Derek Chauvin, the now-former Minneapolis police officer since convicted of his murder and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
The young girl reportedly attended some protests against police violence with her family in the wake of her great-uncle’s murder.
Arianna’s mother, Bianca, is the daughter of Floyd’s sister, LaTonya.
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