Seven-year-old Mariasia Denise Thomas was fatally wounded by gunfire on April 12, 2019, inside the Ellenwood, Georgia, foster home where she had been placed about two weeks earlier. At approximately 11 p.m. while she was watching television on the couch, multiple rounds were fired into the residence; several bullets penetrated the front door and windows and one struck Mariasia in the head. She was taken to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital, remained unresponsive, and died of her injuries on April 22, 2019.

The DeKalb County Police Department arrested three family members about a month after the shooting: siblings Keadesia Allen, 23, and Antoine Allen, 21, and their uncle, Dwayne Allen, 27. All three were charged with felony murder and aggravated assault. During a preliminary hearing the defendants gave conflicting accounts about who fired the AR-15 used in the drive-by shooting, and a judge found sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

Anyone with information about what happened the night of April 12, 2019, or who saw activity around that foster home is asked to come forward.