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13-year-old girl killed in Middle River shooting

Posted at 8:24 AM, Aug 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-02 09:03:39-04

Baltimore County Police say a 13-year-old girl was shot and killed near a 7-Eleven on Compass Road in Middle River Monday night.

It was behind the store police say, where the neighborhood meets the parking lot, just before midnight, a group of teens and young adults were hanging out.

It was dark, but 17-year-old Natalya English says the witnesses she spoke to were at least able to see the flashes of gunfire.

"And they just seen the lighting from the guns, like the fire an all and they just seen the two guys run and they seen the little girl drop I guess," English said.

Iyanna Watkins was that little girl. She was shot multiple times in both the upper and lower body and police say she died instantly.

Two other adults in the group were shot too but are expected to survive.

Baltimore County Police say the suspect or suspects took their shots from the alley behind but are still unclear as to why.

"It was from a significant distance away that they suspect shot toward this group. We are still working to determine if the group itself was targeted or if someone specific in that group was targeted," said Officer Jen Peach.

To that end, Baltimore County Police spent the morning canvassing the neighborhood behind where the shooting took place and stationed a squad car in the back parking lot of the 7-Eleven where, nearby, obscenities seem freshly spray painted on a stairway and litter is strewn about.

Police will be most interested in area surveillance cameras as well hoping the video will reveal a lead.

Meanwhile those who knew the young girl as a middle schooler are struggling with what is already known.

"She didn't even get to see her freshman year. It is really sad, a life taken....so, so soon and she didn't deserve that," English said.

Police say it is possible that this group was in a confrontation earlier in the evening and this might have been retaliation for something.

Baltimore County detectives are currently trying to track down that lead