On New Year’s Eve 2024, not long before midnight, a family was changed forever after someone pulled up in a vehicle and shot multiple times into a home on the 400 block of Trevitt Street on Columbus’ East Side.
Columbus police are not sure who the intended targets were, but the bullets struck 11-year-old Amiyah and 13-year-old Starr. Starr suffered bullet wounds to her foot and leg, while Amiyah was shot multiple times in the back, paralyzing her from the waist down.
Now, six months later, Columbus police, Central Ohio Crimestoppers, and Tiana Hall, the mother of the two girls, are asking for the public’s help to identify the shooter and demanding that those involved come forward.
On June 20, Columbus police and Central Ohio Crimestoppers held a media briefing on Trevitt Street, just a few houses down from where the shooting took place, to provide an update on the case. Detective Ryan Steele said they are looking for an orange Dodge Challenger that was seen on that street just minutes before the shooting, which happened at around 11:37 p.m. Steele said that the shooter fired into a bedroom window that was “filled with kids.”
According to police, the Challenger fled south on Trevitt Street and turned west on Atcheson Street. Steele said that the city’s ShotSpotter sensors — an array of sensors designed to detect gunshots and notify police within a minute — detected the shooting, but it hasn’t been helpful in the investigation.
“Help this community. These girls were doing nothing wrong,” Steele said. “If anybody knows anything, please step forward. And my message to the shooter is this: turn yourself in.”
Mother describes daughters’ physical, mental health struggles
Hall described how both of her daughters are still suffering in the aftermath of the shooting. Amiyah, who was paralyzed, lost the confidence she had before being shot and restricted to a wheelchair.
Amiyah was doing physical therapy, but the family chose to take a three-month break from the training because of the difficulty.
“Amiyah doesn’t want to leave home. She drops her head when she’s in public,” said Hall. She said that both Amiyah and Starr were too scared to attend the press conference, fearful that the shooter may target them there.
“10 seconds changed my daughters’ lives forever,” Hall said.
She said she also has to remind Starr that it wasn’t her fault that Amiyah was shot and paralyzed.
When asked about what she would say to the shooter and other suspects who were involved, Hall echoed police detectives and asked that they surrender to police.
“No one really cares until it’s you,” said Hall. “Just turn yourself in.”
Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the Columbus police felony assault unit at 614-645-4062 or Central Ohio Crimestoppers at 614-461-8677.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ‘Turn yourself in’: Police release footage of New Year’s Eve shooting that injured 2 girls
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
