In the quiet evening of October 9, 2018, the life of 7-year-old Zaniyah Burns, a bright and beloved African-American girl from Flint, Michigan, was tragically cut short. Zaniyah was inside her home on West Austin Avenue with her family when the house was targeted in a spray of gunfire around 8 p.m. A bullet struck the second-grader in the head, and she succumbed to her injuries that night. Investigators believe the young girl was not the intended victim of the violent act.
The shots were reportedly meant for her 16-year-old uncle, turning a senseless act of violence into an even more heartbreaking tragedy.
Known affectionately as 'Toot Toot' by her family, Zaniyah was a student at New Standard Academy where she consistently made the honor roll. She was remembered for her love of reading, singing, dancing, and solving word search puzzles. Her death sent shockwaves through the Flint community, which was already grappling with a high rate of gun violence. In the days that followed, community members gathered for a candlelight vigil to honor her memory, a testament to the profound impact of the loss of such a young and promising life.
The investigation into Zaniyah's death led to the arrest of 17-year-old Jamil Griggs. He was arraigned in 67th District Court on a litany of 18 felony charges, including first-degree premeditated murder, discharging a firearm at a building causing death, assault with intent to murder, and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. If convicted of the most serious charge, Griggs faced the possibility of life in prison without the chance of parole. The charges brought a sense of legal progression to a community mourning the loss of an innocent child, though the pain of her absence remains.
