4-Year-Old Shot In Houston Identified As George Floyd’s Niece

A 4-year-old girl recovering in a Texas hospital after being struck by a bullet on New Year’s Day has been identified as George Floyd’s niece, local media reported.

Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police in 2020 inspired racial justice demonstrations around the world.

The girl, Arianna Delane, was reportedly asleep in a front room of a Houston apartment at around 3 a.m. when an unknown assailant fired several shots into the second-story unit, hitting her in the torso. She was left with a punctured lung and liver, and three broken ribs, a family friend told local outlet KHOU-11.

“My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit,’ and I was shocked until I seen the blood and I realized my 4-year-old daughter was really hit,” the girl’s father, Derrick Delane, told local news station ABC13.

ABC13 reporter Mycah Hatfield said the apartment where Arianna was wounded was the same one where members of Floyd’s family gathered to watch the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck until he died.

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Although Arianna’s mother rushed her to a hospital straight away, police reportedly did not arrive until around four hours after the incident, reported CBS DFW, a local outlet.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said Tuesday that his department launched an internal affairs investigation into the response time.

Derrick Delane told ABC13 he had reason to believe his home had been targeted, not simply unlucky. But Houston police have not yet identified any suspects.