HARTFORD, Conn. — An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old who were wounded during a drive-by shooting that killed a 12-year-old girl in Hartford last week have been arrested, police announced Wednesday.
On April 20, officers responded to a shot spotter activation around 8:45 p.m. on Huntington Street for several rounds of gunfire. When they got there, they found multiple victims.
Investigation revealed that Jeremy Francis, 18, and an unnamed 16-year-old were found by police at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds. The two were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Se'Cret Pierce, 12, was also found with a gunshot wound to the head and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. She died the next day.
After the shooting, police said Pierce was sitting in a car and most likely had nothing to do with the shooting when bullets were fired from a car speeding by. Police also believe she was the only one in the car.
“She was sassy. She was beautiful. She was opinionated,” said Pierce’s grandfather Samuel Saylor heartbroken over the sudden loss. He said his family was robbed. “There’s a mother who had to bring birth to this child, risk her life to bring birth to this child, nurture her for 12 years—just to lose her so fast.”
Saylor has seen gunfire rip through two generations. His son, Shane in 2012. Twelve years later, his granddaughter.
“She grew up over the last 11 years with the absence, with the fact that she couldn’t reach out to dad. Dad wasn’t there. She had to grow a sense of tough skin to go on. Here we are again betrayed by faith, betrayed by seemingly God, all those emotions going through our head. Betrayed by society. We had 11 years to get this right," said Saylor.
Doctors at St. Francis Hospital fought overnight Thursday to revive Pierce.
“Having to sit in a car having to struggle for her life in the hospital for 9 hours. Even though she fought, she had no chance,” said Saylor, a pastor at a church in Springfield.
Police said Monday that Francis had allegedly exchanged gunfire with the suspect car during the shooting. An arrest warrant was drafted, approved, and served at the hospital.
Francis was charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, risk of injury, and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
Police also determined that the 16-year-old was on juvenile probation for firearm charges and was on house arrest at the time of the shooting. The teen was taken into custody and remanded to juvenile detention. He was charged with violation of probation.
Neither Francis nor the 16-year-old were charged specifically with Pierce's death.
Saylor is now calling on anyone with knowledge of the incident to call police.
“It’s too quiet. I don’t know why the priests aren’t yelling and the police aren’t yelling," implored Saylor.
A 23-year-old man was also injured in the shooting.
Police said some city surveillance footage was captured of the vehicle going north on Huntington Street when gunfire erupted, and police are looking to identify the car.
Investigators are looking for two suspects - the driver and a passenger.
This is an active investigation. Anyone with any information regarding the case is asked to call the HPD Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).
Samaia Hernandez is a reporter for FOX61 News. She can be reached at shernandez@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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