RIVER RIDGE, La - A seven-year-old girl was killed when a stray bullet pierced the apartment walls and struck the girl in the neck, while she slept, according to police.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is investigating an early morning shooting Sunday in River Ridge, which left 7-year-old Paige Dejean dead in her own home. It happened at an apartment complex along Jefferson Highway, near South Upland Avenue.
"This child was lying in the living room on an air mattress, with a cousin, and it wasn't until the child began crying, that alerted the mother and the other child," said Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. "That's when she discovered her daughter had a gunshot wound in her neck."
Neighbors awakened to the sound of gunfire at around four o'clock Sunday morning.
"Pop, pop, pop! Bang, bang, bang! A bunch of screaming, a bunch of hollering," said Robert Hoffman, whose apartment is downstairs from the young girl's family.
Paramedics rushed the young girl to Ochsner Hospital, where she later died.
"The whole thing is totally ridiculous," Hoffman said. "It's sad. I mean, a seven-year-old, killed over something, like whatever was going on out here."
Several blocks away from the apartment complex, on South Upland Avenue, Jefferson Parish investigators scoured the area, looking for evidence of shots fired there.
"They be shooting back there sometimes," said Jonathan Canizleas, who lives in the apartment complex. "It's quiet during the day, but at night, I don't know."
Robyn Cross grew up in the neighborhood and heard the shots early Sunday morning. She said South Upland used to be a quiet, dead end street, until it was opened up to through traffic several years ago.
"It's been a lot of traffic up and down the street-- all time of day, all time of the night," Cross said. "So, I don't know if that's added to problems here. But since it's been down, there has been an increase in crime."
Crime that is beginning to wear down some residents.
"I'm tired of crime in New Orleans. I'm tired of crime in Jefferson," Hoffman said. "I wish, you know, something could be done about it."
"It's just horrific. It truly is," Cross said. "It is just a horrific crime."
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is withholding the identity of the young girl, until all of her family can be notified. So far, there are no suspects in this case. Investigators are asking anyone with information on this case to call Crimestoppers at (504) 822-1111.
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