16-year-old girl killed in rolling ambush, sheriff’s office says

RESERVE, La. (WVUE/Gray News) - A 16-year-old girl was killed Sunday in what appears to be a “targeted” killing, authorities in Louisiana said.

Detectives are now seeking leads from the public.

“They don’t deserve to be on the streets of St. John Parish or any street in our state or country,” St. John Sheriff Mike Tregre said. “We have to get them. We have to capture them.”

The St. John Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Aariah Henry. Authorities said she was shot once in the hip early Sunday morning. Surveillance video captured Henry’s car being shot at by another vehicle that pulled alongside and opened fire as they drove.

After the drive-by shooting, Henry was rushed to St. James Hospital for emergency treatment but died of her injuries, authorities said.

“After receiving witness statements and viewing camera footage, this appears to be a specifically targeted attack,” the St. John Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. “Detectives do not have any leads at this time.”

Tregre said Henry was riding in a car with two other underage girls and three adult men following a party in a nearby neighborhood.

Tregre said it appears the group or someone in it was targeted, because video surveillance showed the suspects’ car parked on a dark street near the party, then following the other car to a gas station. The suspects waited again there before speeding up to catch the other vehicle at the intersection where the gunfire erupted.

“The three adult males refused to cooperate with law enforcement at all. They wouldn’t talk to us,” Tregre said. “Everything we have right now is based on our technology and our crime cameras.”

Tregre said the suspects’ car was recovered at the end of a dead-end street, hidden under a tarp. The car had been reported stolen out of New Orleans in March.