Aiyana Jones, 7, was shot and killed by Detroit police while she slept under her favorite Disney princess blanket on a living room sofa at home.
According to reports, police entered the family’s apartment with a search warrant at 12:40 AM Sunday morning in search of a homicide suspect in the killing of 17-year-old Jerean Baker on Friday. Charles Jones, Aiyana’s father, told the Detroit News that he first heard a flash grenade go off inside the apartment, followed by gunshot.
Shocked, Jones ran into the living room, where, he says, police forced him to lay on the ground face-down, in his daughter’s blood. “I’ll never be the same. That’s my only daughter,” he told a local TV station. Police say the officer involved fired after a scuffle with a woman in the front of the apartment and “some level of physical contact” occurred.
The Jones family say it was Mertilla Jones (Aiyana’s grandmother), who denies being in a scuffle with the officer. Jones said Aiyana loved to sing and was a big fan of both Hannah Montana and Justin Bieber. The officer involved has been put on administrative duty.
Rest in peace, Aiyana.