HOUSTON, TX — The man who shot up a families car and killed a 7-year-old girl on Sunday now has a price on his head. Shaun King, a New York civil rights activist and columnist is offering a $35,000 reward for the person who brutally murdered Jazmine Barnes and wounded her mother as the family drove for coffee on Dec. 30, 2018.
King announced the reward on his Twitter account on Tuesday, and also released family photos of the slain child.
Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, who was wounded in the attack, told investigators that a man driving a red pickup truck pulled up next to them as they traveled along the service road at Sam Houston Tollway at Wallisville Road and started shooting inside the car.
Listen. I have $35,000 in cash for the person who turns in the murderer of 7 year old Jazmine Barnes.
You can contact me confidentially. And I can give you the money without anyone knowing it was you.
Contact me at shaunking@gmail.com or the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. pic.twitter.com/PDUsgUyHLU
— Shaun King (@shaunking) January 1, 2019
During a tearful interview the day after the shooting, Washington said she has no idea why the man shot at her family and wondered if she did something to make the man angry enough to kill her daughter.
Washington said she has replayed the horrific scene in her mind, hoping to find some reason for the shooting, but all she feels is anguish.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” she wept. “He fired off at us for no reason.”
Jazmine Barnes, who was a student in Sheldon ISD near Humble, was the only one killed in the shooting. Jazmine’s mother was shot in the arm, and one of Jazmine’s sisters was cut by flying glass, officials said.
“We in law enforcement are used to seeing tragic situations. We are accustomed to seeing devastation in our community, but when it’s a small child it’s a little bit different,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. “We don’t want the death of Jazmine Barnes to be forgotten.”
Lt. Chris Sandoval, a lead homicide investigator with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, released photos from video surveillance of the red pickup, hoping to jog someone’s memory who may have seen the driver of the pickup, or the pickup, in the day leading up to the shooting.
“This could happen to any of us,” Sandoval said
Police are looking for a white man with a beard, possibly in his 40s, wearing a red hoodie.
Anyone with information is asked to call 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. You can also make an anonymous tip online at www.Crime-Stoppers.org.