WASHINGTON, Pa. - An armed man trying to get into an Pennsylvania home early Monday shot and killed a 10-year-old girl as she tried to get to her mother's room, CBS Pittsburgh reported.



The Washington County coroner's office said the shooting happened at a home on West Chestnut Street in Washington around 4:19 a.m.

The girl, Taniyah Thomas, was transported to Washington Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Police said the suspect got in through the front door of the building where Taniyah lived and went upstairs, apparently planning to break into her family's apartment.

Get Breaking News Delivered to Your Inbox

Taniyah apparently heard the commotion, got out of her bed and walked in the hallway, heading for her mother's bedroom.

At that time, the gunman shot through the front door of the apartment and hit the girl, police said.

Taniyah's grandfather, Sherman Brown, blames the mother's boyfriend and thinks this was drug-related.

"Why would they come to somebody's house and break in and then go to shooting? She was an innocent girl just lying on her bed and got shot and died. And that's terrible. I'm just so upset," Sherman Brown said.

No arrests have been made and anyone with information is asked to call police.