EDENTON, N.C. — Seven weeks after someone shot and killed a nine-year-old girl, authorities in North Carolina are offering a $5,000 reward for information on the person responsible.
Makiia Slade died in her family’s car on a highway in Edenton, North Carolina.
Her aunt Felicia Ford says the family wants justice.
“If you can pull a trigger on a highway, stand up for what you’ve done," Ford said. “It’s going to come out sooner than what you think because right now, I know you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t even rest, we can’t rest. So how can you rest?”
The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Medics found Makiia in a car and she died at the scene. The gunman also shot her mother, Shatory Slade who is recovering from her injuries.
State and local leaders, and members of the tight-knit Edenton community are hoping this new reward money will motivate someone to come forward, so the case won’t get cold.
“Somebody always knows something," said Don McQueen of Elaine Riddick Charter School. "Somebody said something, somebody talked to somebody, that’s how it happens. Somebody knows something.”
Chowan County Sheriff Edward Basnight said his team has exhausted all leads.
“We’re almost -- I don’t want to say we’re at a standstill but we need leads,” Basnight said.
Senator Bob Steinburg announced the reward money. He said $5,000 is being offered to anyone with information that can lead to an arrest and conviction.
“Northeastern North Carolina and Edenton North Carolina is not Chicago," Steinburg said. "While many of the deaths that occur there end up being a needless statistic, a senseless statistic, the names are forever forgotten -- we are not going to allow this to happen here.”
State Representative Ed Goodwin was at the press conference where they announced the reward as a show of support.
“We don’t take this crap in northeastern North Carolina," Goodwin said. "You saw something, you heard something, say something about it and tell somebody.”