In the summer evening of July 31, 2017, in Middle River, Maryland, 13-year-old Iyanna Watkins, a Black female, was with a group of friends behind a 7-Eleven on Peterson Road. An earlier altercation had taken place between a friend of the victims and another individual, an incident that would tragically escalate. As the group gathered, at least one person emerged from an alley and opened fire on them.
Iyanna was struck multiple times in her upper and lower body and died at the scene.
Two men who were with her were also shot, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries to their lower bodies. Investigators believe the shooting was a targeted attack, though it is thought that Iyanna herself was not the intended victim, but rather an innocent bystander caught in the deadly crossfire that erupted after the earlier dispute.
In the wake of the shooting, the community mourned the loss of the young girl. The investigation into her death led to the arrests of two 19-year-old men, Alphonso Frederick Smith and Lee-Austin Eastmond. Both were charged with first-degree murder for the death of Iyanna Watkins and two counts of attempted murder for the injuries sustained by the other two victims. The suspects were subsequently held at the Baltimore County Department of Corrections.
