CLEVELAND – A 19-year-old was arrested Friday in the fatal shooting of a 5-month-old girl who was in the backseat of a car while her mother and grandmother drove to a grocery store last month for birthday cake supplies, authorities said.
"It helps a lot to just know that somebody's being held accountable," Beatrice Wakefield, the grandmother of Aavielle Wakefield, said in a phone interview.
Members of a fugitive task force led by the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Davon Holmes on Cleveland's east side within an hour of police obtaining an aggravated murder warrant. Cleveland police issued a statement that said homicide detectives identified Holmes using multiple tips from the public to Crimestoppers. Police haven't said why someone might have shot at the car. A police spokeswoman said Friday that homicide detectives were interviewing Holmes.
At a news conference the day after the Oct. 1 shooting, an emotional Police Chief Calvin Williams announced that a $25,000 reward was being offered for information about the slaying. Aavielle was the third young child fatally shot in Cleveland in a four-week period.
Online court records don't indicate whether Holmes has an attorney. A second man who lived near the shooting scene was arrested Friday on suspicion of tampering with evidence.
Aavielle was shot once in the chest as she sat in the backseat of a car driven by her mother, Ieshia. Aavielle's 8-year-old sister was also in the car, along with Beatrice Wakefield. The car was struck by multiple rounds of gunfire but only Aavielle was injured.
Beatrice Wakefield said she's thankful for the arrest. "I'm just glad they got somebody and it didn't take years," she said.
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