Detroit chief urges change after 7-year-old killed

Kat Stafford | Detroit Free Press

Three bullet holes in the picture window stood in grim contrast Monday to the flashing Christmas lights behind a drawn curtain in the two-story brick home in northwest Detroit side where 7-year-old Chanell Berry was shot and killed the previous night.

Chanell was playing with her Christmas presents Sunday night when bullets flew through the living room window, striking her and a friend. Police suspect an argument between two women lead to the shooting.

Chanell was rushed to an hospital by family and died. Her friend, an 8-year-old girl, remained hospitalized in critical condition Monday. Assistant Detroit Police Chief Steve Dolunt said the girl "is going to be OK."

The shooting has left Chanell's family at a loss for words, yet hopeful for justice, said Asheta Webb, Chanell's aunt. Family members gathered at the home Monday afternoon.

"I don't know what to say," she said. "Her mother is still in shock."

Two people are in custody in connection with the fatal shooting, police said. A person of interest turned herself in to the police, Detroit police Sgt. Cassandra Lewis said. Lewis said a second person of interest, a man, was also taken into custody.

At a Monday news conference, few new details were released about the shooting, but Chief James Craig called it a senseless crime.

"Senseless, tragic and over what?" Craig said. "People get to argue, but they don’t get to use this kind of response to resolve whatever their differences are. I said this two and half, three years ago when I started. It seems to me — and this is not a criticism, this is factual — people are desensitized. They’ve come to accept a level of violence. ...So it's not just, 'Detroit police, what are you doing?' It's 'What are we going to do? When are we going to stand up and say enough is enough?' "

Police said someone fired about five shots into the home Sunday night following a family argument. The shooting happened in 16800 block of Steel Street, Lewis said.

"The family was out together at a house. It was some disagreement between the females," Lewis said. "One of the females left and said 'I'll be back.' She came back, or we assume she came back, a short while later, and several shots were fired into the house. The two children were struck."

Webb said the family is struggling to cope with the loss and described Chanell as a "very bright" girl and an honor student.

"She was a cheerleader, she just came back from a competition in Florida," Webb said, adding that Chanell was also a member of a Detroit Police Athletic League team. The family has started a GoFundMe fund-raiser, Justice for Chanell, to help cover burial costs. A little more than $300 had been raised. No arrangements had been made yet.

Contact Katrease Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759.