Sixteen-year-old Kaliyah Embery had already endured more loss than many experience in a lifetime. In the years leading up to her death, she had lost both of her parents. More recently, she had traveled from Louisiana to her family’s home in Detroit to attend the funeral for her older sister, who was killed in a car crash in August 2026. Kaliyah was still in the city that fall, staying with relatives who were now facing another devastating loss.
Her family described her as the youngest in a family that has endured several heartbreaking tragedies.
On the evening of Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Kaliyah, a female, was sitting in a Jeep Grand Cherokee with three other people near her family’s home on Detroit's east side. At approximately 6:50 p.m., as the Jeep was in the 4700 block of Chalmers Street near East Forest Avenue, a dark-colored sedan drove by and someone inside opened fire. Multiple shots were fired indiscriminately into the Jeep. Kaliyah was struck more than once. A 19-year-old man, identified by some family as her brother and others as a friend, was also hit and wounded. The two other occupants of the vehicle were not physically injured.
When the gunfire ceased, Kaliyah’s great-aunt, Dorothy Bean-Cooley, who was inside the nearby house, heard the commotion. "I was in the house, heard shots and it was so close," she recalled. "I was afraid to move because I thought someone shooting at our house. When it settled down, I looked out the bathroom window and I saw my niece." Emergency services responded, but Kaliyah’s injuries were fatal. The 19-year-old man was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was expected to recover.
The Detroit Police Department’s homicide investigators immediately began processing the scene and speaking with witnesses. The seemingly random and senseless nature of the shooting drew outrage from both the community and law enforcement. Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison condemned the "senseless act" and pledged, "we're going to throw the book at them." Investigators followed leads and tips from the community, which led them to identify a suspect and a suspect vehicle.
The day after the shooting, on October 14, 2026, Detroit police arrested 18-year-old Jarek Sneed of Oak Park in connection with the killing. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office subsequently charged Sneed with a list of serious felonies. The charges included first-degree premeditated murder, four counts of assault with intent to murder, discharge from a vehicle causing death, discharge from a vehicle causing injury, and seven counts of felony firearm. At his arraignment on Saturday, October 17, Sneed was denied bond and remanded to jail. A probable cause conference was scheduled for October 26, with a preliminary examination set for November 2, 2026.
The shooting was part of a wave of violence that had recently shaken Detroit, prompting community leaders to call for an end to the bloodshed. Quincy Smith, who leads a community violence intervention group, expressed his frustration: "I’m sick and I'm tired of the violence for individuals just simply not knowing how to regulate their own emotions and deal with their issues and their problems and their beefs from a conversation." Chief Bettison emphasized the need for community involvement, stating, "The community has to stand up and they gotta speak up and they gotta start turning folks in, plain and simple, cause this right here is out of control."
As of October 2026, the case against Jarek Sneed was proceeding through the court system. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Crime Stoppers of Michigan had offered a $5,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information about the shooting is still encouraged to contact the Detroit Police Department or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP, where they can remain anonymous.
