On the evening of June 4, 2022, 11-year-old Saniyah Pugh was inside her grandmother’s home on Goulburn Street in Detroit when a stray bullet pierced the wall and struck her in the back, killing her. The shooting occurred at approximately 10:15 p.m. while Saniyah was in a bedroom.

Investigators traced the fatal shot to a neighboring backyard where two people were firing a handgun. They identified a 21-year-old William Trifun Dickerson and a 17-year-old female as the shooters. Both were arrested; Dickerson was charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and felony firearm offenses, and the 17-year-old was charged as a juvenile with intentionally discharging a firearm at a dwelling causing death.

Saniyah’s family expressed profound grief and frustration with how the case unfolded. The killing highlighted the deadly consequences of reckless gunfire in a residential area. If anyone has information about Saniyah, the circumstances that night, or the neighborhood activity that evening, please come forward.