Police identify Hempstead girl shot in head
Police have identified a 12-year-old Hempstead girl who is fighting for her life after being shot in the head by a stray bullet Friday evening. Police say Dejah Joyner was standing in the living room
News 12 Staff
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Oct 18, 2015, 1:36 AM
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Updated 3,125 days ago
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Police have identified a 12-year-old Hempstead girl who is fighting for her life after being shot in the head by a stray bullet Friday evening.
Police say Dejah Joyner was standing in the living room of her house at 204 Dartmouth St. at around 5 p.m. when a single bullet pierced through the front bay window and struck her brain.
Joyner, a seventh-grader in the Hempstead School District, was rushed to Winthrop-University Hospital, where police say she is in "grave" condition.
Police say they believe that Joyner was not the intended target of the shooting.
A news conference on the shooting was held Saturday at Nassau police headquarters in Mineola.
Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas took to the podium to denounce the shooting.
"This is a tragic and awful case," she says. "We cannot sit idly by as 12-year-old children are gunned down in their own living rooms."
Singas says her office is fully committed to assisting in the investigation.
Acting Nassau Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter says that Nassau officers will work with the Hempstead Village Police Department in the investigation.
"We are going to aggressively investigate this case," Krumpter says. "We will turn over every rock and we will find the person responsible for this."
Hempstead Village and Nassau County Crime Stoppers are offering a $75,000 reward for tips that lead to an arrest and conviction in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS.
In response to the shooting, a "Day of Rage" vigil will be held in Hempstead at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
