Hundreds mourned on Saturday the loss of a 6-year-old girl shot in a garage as a result of gang violence. The news of her murder, which spread on social media, prompted rappers Snoop Lion and The Game to donate thousands to her family.
Tiana Ricks was killed standing next to father, Tyrell Ricks Jr., last Saturday at a cousin's going-away-to-college party in Moreno Valley, about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Two men walked up to the father and daughter and opened fire, ABC reports. Ricks died in a nearby hospital but her father survived.
Compton rapper The Game wrote on his Instagram that when he read Ricks' story, he "immediately" tracked down her mother and pledged $10,000 for her funeral. He wrote that the "very sad story hit me in a place nothing ever has."
He wrote that his donation was a part of the Robin Hood Project, a pledge he made Monday on Instagram and Twitter to give away $1 million before Christmas. Inspired by an encounter with a boy he met in Australia, he said the money would go "to people I come in contact with around the world."
Long Beach rapper Snoop Lion followed suit, pledging an undisclosed amount to help pay for Ricks' funeral. "Little 6-year-old girls are not supposed to die from a gunshot. But it keeps happening," Snoop said in a statement. "From the mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, to gang violence in the streets and murders in our own backyards, too many tears are being shed, too many young lives are being cut short. We need to come together to change this."
Snoop referenced his anti-violence campaign that shares the name of his recent song, "No Guns Allowed."
Anniese Parrish, a longtime friend of the Ricks, said Tiana's mother, a recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach, is devastated, the Press Telegram reports.
“There are not enough beautiful words to say about this little girl,” Parrish said. “She was smart, talented, caring.”
Police confirmed that the incident was gang-related and continue to search for the gunmen, according to the Telegram.
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