Funeral next week for girl shot near Atlanta protest site

ATLANTA — A funeral is scheduled next week for an 8-year-old girl who was shot on the Fourth of July near one of Atlanta’s flash points for protests against police brutality.

The private, invitation-only service for Secoriea Turner will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at New Calvary Missionary Church in Atlanta, her family’s lawyers said in an emailed statement Friday. A public viewing is to be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Murray Brothers Funeral Home in Atlanta.

Secoriea was riding in a Jeep Cherokee with her mother and another adult on Saturday night when they encountered a roadblock manned by numerous people with guns, police have said. When the driver tried to go around the roadblock, shots were fired and the girl was fatally hit.

Police have released a short surveillance camera video of an armed man who they described as a person of interest in the girl’s shooting. It shows a Black man in a white shirt and dark pants carrying an AR-15 rifle with a tan stock and grip.

A reward of up to $20,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a suspect in the case.

The girl was shot near the Wendy’s restaurant where a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, was killed by a white police officer June 12. The fast food outlet was later burned, and the area has since become a site for frequent demonstrations against police brutality.

A representative for Tyler Perry has confirmed that the actor and filmmaker has offered to pay for Secoriea’s funeral.

A team of lawyers has been hired “to represent this family in its time of need and will investigate the circumstances surrounding Secoriea’s death,” attorney Robert Bozeman said in the statement.

The Associated Press