Five-year-old Mya Vimal Patel of Shreveport was killed by a stray bullet that entered her family’s ground-floor unit at the Super 8 Motel on Monkhouse Drive in March 2021. Mya, born July 19, 2015, lived at the motel with her parents, Vimal and Sneha Patel, who owned and operated the business. She was described as a bright, social child who loved to sing Bhajans and dance.

The shooting happened after an altercation in the motel parking lot. Joseph Lee Smith, 35, struck another man with a 9-mm handgun; the impact caused the gun to discharge. The bullet missed the intended target, grazed Sneha Patel, and traveled into the living unit, striking Mya in the head. She was taken to Ochsner LSU Health, where she died on March 22, 2021, after three days in care.

Anyone who knew the family or witnessed the incident at the Super 8 Motel is asked to come forward with information.