Sketch released of man accused of killing Houston child in parking lot

HOUSTON (AP/WISH) — A man in a pickup truck pulled up next to a car leaving a Houston-area Walmart parking lot and started shooting, killing a 7-year-old girl inside the car and wounding the girl’s mother, authorities said Sunday.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in posts on Twitter and Facebook that the girl who died was 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes. He said her mother, 30-year-old LaPorsha Washington, was wounded but survived her injury.

Thursday, Houston Texans wide receiver Deandre Hopkins said he’s using Saturday’s AFC wildcard game against the Indianapolis Colts to honor Barnes. He is donating his paycheck from the game to the Barnes family.

Three other girls were in the car with Jazmin Barnes, but it wasn’t immediately clear if they also are related to the woman, who authorities say was shot in the arm.

It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the Sunday morning shooting, but investigators say they’re investigation the potential that the motive was racial. No arrests have been made. 

The red pickup fled the scene after the shooting. The car also sped away before it came to a stop and the woman called 911, authorities said.

Sheriff’s Maj. Jesse Razo said the other girls who were inside the car when the shooting happened were “shaken” and “devastated.”

The sheriff’s office released a sketch of the suspect Thursday as well as surveillance video of the vehicle he escaped in. Deputies described him as a while male with a thin building in his 30s or 40s. They say he was wearing a black hoodie and drove a reddish pickup. 

“We’re going to use all resources available to bring this killer to justice,” Razo told reporters at the scene. “And I urge you, whoever did this, you know who you are, please turn yourself in now because we will be looking for you, we will locate you, we will find you.”