Facebook spat leads to shooting death of 14-year-old girl in Alabama

A spat on Facebook that went on for several weeks eventually led to a fight in a Birmingham, Alabama park and the shooting death of a 14-year-old girl late Saturday afternoon. Three adolescent girls were shot. The girl who died is identified as Kierra’onna Rice.

According to Alabama authorities, the group of girls went to the park to settle their quarrel, planning to record their fist-fight to post on Facebook. As the fight began, two teenage males pulled guns and began shooting at the girls, striking three of them. The victims were taken to two local hospitals, where Rice died.

Two suspects, aged 17 and 19, were taken into custody after being identified by witnesses. Police said that one of the suspects was dating one of the girls who was fighting the shooting victim.  Formal charges are pending. The names of the suspects have not been released.

Diamond Davis, who knew Rice, said she thinks the fight could have had a much different result if the girls had just said they were sorry.

Birmingham pastor Herman Henderson, who is the president of the “Stop the Violence” movement, said that youth violence is a concern that parents need to take seriously. “We going to reach these daddies, we going to reach these mothers, and we’re going to tell them this is senseless,” he said. “Where are they getting the guns from? Where are they learning to be so violent at a young age? What happened to the curfew that was put in place?”

Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper questioned the wisdom of putting a recorded fight on social media, saying it is very challenging for both the police department and the families when kids decide to fight and put it on social media for everyone to see.

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