By
Jim Mackinnon
Beacon Journal
By
Sean McDonnell
Beacon Journal
Posted Aug 15, 2020 at 7:01 AMUpdated Aug 15, 2020 at 11:43 PM
An 8-year-old girl was shot to death late Friday night during a backyard teen birthday party in Akron.
Akron police identified the girl Saturday afternoon as Mikayla Pickett.
An Akron Public Schools spokesman said Mikayla was a student at Portage Path Community Learning Center.
The shooting took place in the 700 block of Roselle Avenue near Manchester Road, where officers responded to reports of gunfire about 11:48 p.m. Friday, police said.
The girl was found with an apparent gunshot wound and was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
Police said there was a large gathering of teens at the home, and it appears the shots came from outside.
No arrests had been made as of Saturday afternoon. Akron police said detectives are working to identify suspects.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office will conduct an autopsy.
Willie Walker, 62, said he was hosting an outdoor birthday party Friday night for his 15-year-old grandson in his backyard when the shooting happened.
Walker, who has lived at the home for 32 years, was inside the house when the gunfire started.
“All hell broke out,” he said. “I don’t know what the hell happened.”
He said about three or four people showed up at the property and started shooting at family members and friends who were at the party.
Walker said he did not know the girl who died.
Another neighbor who has lived at her house since 1973 said she thought the girl lived a block away.
Walker said police officers found multiple shell casings at the scene.
“I don’t know know how many shells they took,” he said. “A lot of them.”
The neighbor, who declined to give her name, said a couple of windows were shot out at the home of her son, who lives next door to her.
“I heard I don’t know how many shots,” she said. She said when she felt safe enough to look outside, she expected, based on the gunfire, to see a lot of bodies on the ground.
She said there was another shooting in the neighborhood Wednesday or Thursday, when someone fired into another home on the street. She also found two shell casings in her driveway last week.
“These boys have lost their minds,” she said. “Nobody’s got that much sense to tell on them. It’s just sad.”
She said people are afraid to tell on the shooters, “and rightfully so, because they just don’t care.”
Roselle Avenue is between Manchester Road and East Avenue in the city’s Sherbondy Hill neighborhood.
Akron police track murders in the city, excluding killings such as unintentional homicides. This is the 31st murder that police are investigating in 2020.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Akron Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2Tip.
You can also call the Summit County Crime Stoppers at 330-434-COPS. Text TIPSCO with your tips to 274637. Callers can remain anonymous.
