Tragedy struck a Dallas family on Wednesday afternoon when a 6-year-old girl, Ah’Laynah Modica-Ross, was fatally shot in her home. The incident occurred while her mother was at the mortuary making arrangements for the funeral of Ah’Laynah’s 14-year-old brother, Ah-brazen “Bra” Rider, who had died on December 29th from a gunshot wound sustained at a friend’s apartment.
According to the Dallas Police Department, Ah’Laynah was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and succumbed to her injuries later that day. The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain undisclosed, but it is known that two adults and two other children were present in the home at the time.
Damariya Sowels, 19, was arrested on charges of tampering with physical evidence and for unrelated warrants. Sowels admitted to bringing two guns to the residence, leaving an unattended MAC-10 on a PlayStation game console in a third-floor bedroom. Following the incident, he allegedly retrieved the MAC-10 and another gun, a Glock 40, concealing them in a backpack in the garage. Crime scene investigators later discovered the weapons in the garage, told HuffPost.
Ah’Laynah’s older brother’s death had already devastated the family, as he was shot on December 29th, with a friend also sustaining injuries. A 16-year-old boy was arrested in connection with those shootings.
In an interview last week, Brittney Ross, the mother, expressed overwhelming grief over the loss of her two children. She announced that the funeral for Ah-brain, originally scheduled for Saturday, would be postponed so that the siblings could be laid to rest together. A GoFundMe campaign has been initiated by a relative to assist with funeral expenses, revealing that Ross has four surviving children.
The family’s grandfather, Michael Key, spoke to reporters, describing the situation as a nightmare. Ah’Laynah, who had recently celebrated her 6th birthday on December 27th, was remembered as a very sweet and highly intelligent child. Key expressed the profound difficulty the family is facing, particularly in coping with the consecutive losses of the two young siblings.