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A Black family of six in Houston, Texas, was targeted by a gunman wearing a medical mask last Wednesday, June 20. Opening fire and altering their lives forever, he allegedly killed the parents, 29-year-old Donyavia Lagway and 35-year-old Gregory Carhee, as well as their 6-year-old daughter Harmony Carhee, according to WRAL. Trying to save her life and that of her infant brother’s, the parents’ unnamed 10-year-old daughter narrowly escaped death by playing dead until the shooter left and cradling her 1-year-old sibling until she could get them help.
According to KHOU, Gregory was shot after answering the door. The gunman then threw the 1-year-old by his hair before opening fire on the rest of the family. Houston police believe that the family might have known the alleged killer, as there weren’t any signs of forced entry noticed.
The 10-year-old girl was shot in her arm during last week’s tragic shooting incident and played dead until the shooter left the home. She then grabbed her baby brother and contacted her grandmother for help. Angela Ervin, a close family member, recalled to KHOU that the young girl stated, “‘Granny someone came in a shot me, my momma and my dad and sister, and they’re dead.’ She was in the house about 15 minutes with the bodies until we got here.”
Gregory and Donyavia shared four children together and recently discovered that they’d be having another one on the way, KHOU reported. They had also been together for over a decade. The 1-year-old was unharmed during the shooting, according to WRAL. As was their 8-year-old son, who was fortunately not home at the time.
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Donyavia’s cousin, Ronette Terrell, is searching for a reason behind the senseless violence and death of their family members, telling KHOU, “Why? That’s what I don’t understand. When I got the phone call I was just in disbelief, and then she told me that they had both passed and I was saying that couldn’t be true,”
Acknowledging their 10-year-old cousin for her brave actions and swift thinking, they continued, “She waited until he left and pretended that she was dead and then when he left she locked the door, grabbed her little brother, called her grandmother,”
Investigators, who believe the suspect to be a male in his 20s, are currently reviewing surveillance footage in order to find out who’s responsible for last Wednesday’s shooting.