A 14-year-old girl was shot and killed by a classmate following a dispute on a school bus, according to multiple reports.
Anaya Zachary was shot four times by a 13-year-old boy from her school at a playground outside an apartment complex in Baytown, Texas, at around 4 p.m. local time on Friday, March 21, local news outlets ABC 13 and Fox 26 reported.
Police said, per Fox 26, that Anaya was taken to the hospital and was later pronounced dead. A representative from the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District further confirmed that a fatal shooting took place after school near the victim’s residence, per ABC 13.
The Baytown Police Department and the Goose Creek CISD did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information on Saturday, March 22.
Sonya Stanford, a woman who told KPRC 2 that she was Anaya’s godmother, said the shooting occurred after the teen and her classmate — whose identity has not been shared by police due to the fact that he is a minor — “got into it” on the bus on the way home from school that day.
She claimed that the boy later showed up at the playground where Anaya was hanging out wearing a “black mask.”
“Her and the little boy got into it on the bus, and he got off the bus, he went home, he came back, he went home again. Anaya came in and asked me, ‘Tia, can I go outside?’ ” Stanford told the outlet.
She continued: “He went home, put on all black, put on a black mask, and came back and called my baby’s name and he shot my baby four times.”
“She was a sweet kid, an honor roll student. Never had no problems. ‘Yes ma’am, no ma’am. Thank you, no thank you.’ This was a sweet baby,” Stanford further recalled.
Stanford also said that while she “forgives” the boy who shot her goddaughter, she does not understand why he had access to a gun at home. She added that she holds the boy’s parents partly responsible for the tragedy.
“You should have put your weapon up so your 13-year-old son wouldn’t have gotten this gun and shot my child. I am very hurt, I am very disappointed,” she said.
Stanford told KPRC 2 that Anaya had been living with her at the apartment complex for the past year.
Authorities have not said what charges the teen faces or whether his parents could be charged, though they confirmed he is currently in police custody, per ABC 13.
