Ayana McAllister was 18 and home on spring break from St. Augustine’s University when she was fatally shot in Washington, D.C. The college freshman was with her older sister and a friend on the evening of Monday, March 20, 2017, in the 4300 block of Benning Road NE to support a friend filming a rap video in an apartment-complex parking lot. As the shoot ended and people were getting into a car, multiple shots were fired into the crowd. Ayana was struck, rushed to a hospital, and died the following day on March 21, 2017. A friend with her suffered only a minor graze wound and was treated and released.

Police have described Ayana as an innocent bystander and say the shooting involved a suspect in a car with a get-away driver opening fire on the group. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified; the gunmen are believed to be at large. If anyone was in the area that night or has information about the shooting, please come forward.