*George Floyd’s 4-year-old great niece Arianna Delane was hit by a stray bullet while asleep in her Houston bedroom, in what her father claimed was a targeted attack of their home. Arianna survived the shooting and is recovering following emergency surgery for a punctured lung and liver. She also suffered three broken ribs.
Arianna, whose grandmother LaTonya is Floyd’s sister, was one of two children and four adults who were sleeping inside the second floor of their Southside apartment when a gunman opened fire at around 3 a.m. on New Year’s day. Arianna’s father, Derrick Delane, said that he had just come back in the house from lighting fireworks when the bullets went flying.
“My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit.’ And I was shocked until I seen the blood and I realized my four-year-old daughter was really hit,” Delane told ABC 13 Houston. “She didn’t know what was going on. She was asleep,” he added.
Houston police say they’re looking for a possible motive, or if the girl or other family members were targeted. Delane, however, says he has no doubt that it was a targeted shooting but did not elaborate.
“Why would my house get shot up?” he said. “My daughter don’t know. I can’t explain that to her. As the father, you’re supposed to protect the kids.”
The family has also accused the police of a delayed response and said cops didn’t arrive until 7 a.m. Houston’s police chief Troy Finner said in a statement that an internal affairs investigation has been launched into the late response.
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
Arianna joined her family members in several Black Lives Matter protests following the killing of her great uncle George Floyd. Ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for the brutal murder on May 20.
Delane said his daughter wants to become a dancer or cheerleader and hopes she will be able to fulfil her dreams after her recovery. “She’s healing very fast. The last time I checked on her she was breathing on her own. She was doing really great,” he said.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
