Houston offers $30K reward for info on case of 9-year-old shot in road rage incident

Houston officials are offering $30,000 for information that helps identify the person who shot a 9-year-old girl in the head in an apparent road rage incident last week.

As KIAH reported, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner (D) and police Chief Troy Finner on Monday again asked the public for help in identifying whoever shot Ashanti Grant Tuesday on the Southwest Freeway.

“[Ashanti’s] life has been altered by this cowardly act by someone who thinks he is above the law,” said Turner. “But we’re going to keep the spotlight on what happened.”

Grant was going to the grocery store with her family on Tuesday evening when they were apparently caught between two cars that were racing. A white GMC Denali cut off the family’s Chevy Tahoe multiple times before the driver of the pickup truck swerved behind them and shot directly at them.

Ashanti was taken to the Texas Children’s Hospital, where she had emergency surgery. She has since been in a medically induced coma. As KTRK reported, Grant’s family said her condition is improving, but she’s “still not out of the woods.”

According to KIAH, the driver of the truck is believed to be a Hispanic man. A woman is also believed to have been a passenger in the vehicle.

In a move to further combat rising crime in Houston, Turner said he is demanding that the surveillance cameras around the city, which take photos only for traffic situations, be able to record video as well.