Vaniya Bennett was a 14-year-old Black girl from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, killed by gunfire on the evening of July 16, 2023. The shooting occurred at a home at 2303 West 17th Avenue, near the campus of Southeast Arkansas College. Witnesses reported a drive-by: a vehicle passed the residence while a passenger fired shots from a window. Vaniya was inside the house when she was struck and killed.

In the front yard, 17-year-old Zamarion Moten was also shot to death. An 18-year-old, Kaden McKay, was found wounded in a bedroom and later recovered. The Pine Bluff Police Department opened a double homicide investigation and identified three young men as suspects. Authorities charged 19-year-olds Trenton Xavion Rogers and Jayvion Marquet Williams with two counts of capital murder and several related offenses, and charged 18-year-old Dillen Finch in the killings; the matter was in the court system as of July 2023.

Vaniya’s mother described her as an innocent bystander and said the family was devastated. If anyone has information about the shooting or the events that night, please come forward.