A little girl showed immense bravery in a situation that can be absolutely terrifying for a 10-year-old child. After getting shot in the arm, the 10-year-old played dead while a masked man stood just a few feet away from her and shot down her family members. For several harrowing minutes, the child stayed in the same position until she could call her grandmother.
In the events that led up to the incident, the masked suspect knocked on the family’s door at their apartment at 12101 Fondren Road in Texas. Her father opened up the door, and the masked man walked inside the house.
At some point, the man lined up the couple and their two daughters on the couch before opening fire. The man shot the parents, Gregory Carhee and Donyavia Lagway, along with their 6-year-old daughter, Harmony. All three of the victims were shot in the head and killed at the scene. The shooter also shot the 10-year-old girl in her arm right near the elbow, after which the child played dead.
Later, the girl called up her grandmother and other relatives at around 10:30 pm and told them the devastating events that took place in their house.
“She said, ‘Granny, someone came in and shot me, my mom, my dad, and my sister, and they dead,'” Angela Ervin said. “She was in the house for about 15 minutes with the bodies until we got here.”
“She FaceTimed her grandmother… showed her everything,” added Tamera Denton. “Then her [grandmother] called 911.”
Once the first responders arrived, they walked in on the bloody scene and rushed the 10-year-old girl to the hospital. Also in the house at the same time was the couple’s one-year-old baby, who came out of the incident unharmed.
The couple’s 8-year-old son also survived the incident because he was not in the house at the time.
“It’s devastating. My niece, she’s brave, very brave,” Angela shared. “My niece told him he had the wrong apartment and he grabbed the baby out the dad’s arm, sat him on the sofa and that’s when he started shooting.”
Donyavia’s mother, Manda Lagway, said, “I don’t really know who would want to hurt them because I mean, they were good people.”
Assistant Chief Patty Cantu, who works with the Houston Police Department, said, “Right now, we don’t have all the details and right now we’re just looking for a suspect to see what happened.”
Cantu added in the press briefing, “This is a very, very tragic scene. We’re sending out prayers to the family. This was a very difficult scene not only for us, the officers, but the family as well. So we’re sending out prayers and hopes that anybody has any information.”
Eventually, the police reportedly arrested a man in connection with the fatal shootings of the couple and their daughter. An update by the Houston Police on Twitter said, “Charges have been accepted by the @HarrisCountyDAO against Xavier Davis, 28 for his role in the fatal shooting of Harmony Carhee, 6, Donyavia Lagway, 29 & Gregory Carhee, 35 at 12101 Fondren Road Wednesday night (June 30).”