9-year-old Houston girl dies after being shot by robbery victim: police

A 9-year-old girl in Houston died on Tuesday after being shot in the head by a robbery victim who believed he was shooting at the person who had robbed him.

As KTRK reported, Arlene Alvarez was shot in the head while her family was driving by a hold-up at an ATM at a Chase bank location on Monday night.

According to the police, a man went up to a couple — a man and a woman — who were at the ATM in their vehicle and robbed them at gunpoint. The man got out of his car and shot at the robber as well as a pick-up he believed he was escaping with.

However, the truck belonged to the Alvarez family who was going out for pizza for Valentine’s Day, KTRK reported.

“I heard the bullets,” Arlene’s father, Armando Alvarez, said, according to the station. “First instinct was to speed up. As soon as I speed up, what are you doing? You’re already coming next to him and going toward the guy shooting. So I guess when I sped up he thought I’m with that guy. He shot four or five times.”

Armando said that he instructed his family to get down, but Arlene was unable to hear him due to having her headphones in and watching a video. Arlene was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The Houston police identified the shooter as Tony D. Earls, 41. He has been charged with aggravated assault. On Tuesday afternoon, the authorities shared that Arlene had been pronounced dead.

This incident occurs just one week after another 9-year-old Houston girl was also shot in the head during an apparent road rage incident. Ashanti Grant was shot after her family is believed to have been caught in a race between two cars.

The driver of one of the vehicles shot at Ashanti’s family’s car, hitting her in the head. She received emergency surgery at the Texas Children’s Hospital and is currently in a medically induced coma. Her condition has improved somewhat according to her family.

Houston city officials are offering a $30,000 reward for information that leads to the identification of the suspected shooter, who was driving a white GMC Denali. According to reports, the driver is believed to have been a Hispanic man.