12-year-old girl dies in shooting inside Clayton County home, two teenagers arrested
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Clayton County Police have arrested two teenagers in connection with a Wednesday night shooting that killed a 12-year-old girl. The shooting happened inside a home off Adel Lane near Riverdale.
FOX 5 has learned the victim's mother has identified her as Sakhya Monea Bentley, who would have enrolled in 7th grade at Sequoia Middle School.
"She was definitely one of a kind... my daughter will never graduate high school. This is the closest thing I have to a graduation picture," said the girl's mother, Nyeisha Brown, who tearfully spoke outside her home while showing another graduation photo from last year. Brown said her daughter wanted to grow up to become a lawyer.
Police confirm they are investigating the case as a homicide and that a 13-year-old male and 14-year-old male are in custody. Officers responded to the home after a report of a shooting at about 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Brown said her daughter Sakhya had a number of friends over, and her mother had asked a group of kids to leave; when they returned, that's when Brown said gunfire erupted.
According to a news release, officers found an unresponsive 12-year-old and immediately began CPR on the child. Members of Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services arrived a short time later and took over emergency care. Medics rushed Bentley to a local hospital where she died.
Police believe the victim lived at the home. According to the release, several juveniles were inside the home when the shooting happened.
Clayton County Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ashanti Marbury told FOX 5 detectives interviewed several persons of interest, all of whom are juveniles. Investigators returned to the scene Thursday afternoon to interview loved ones, and said they were interviewing a group of people at police headquarters.
According to the release, investigators believe the shooting was an accident. Investigators are trying to find out who owned the gun. The two teenage male suspected face charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and possession of a weapon by a minor.
Family members have created a GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses.