UPDATE - The seven-year-old victim has been identified as Paige Dejean, according to JPSO spokesman Col. John Fortunato.
River Ridge - A River Ridge family is grieving, after a seven-year-old girl was shot to death while sleeping. It happened at 10950 Jefferson Highway, building B.
Dozens of Jefferson Parish Sheriff deputies combed the parking lot at the Mark Twain Two apartments in River Ridge looking for shell casings.
Around 4:16 Sunday morning deputies responded to a frantic call from a mother that her seven-year-old daughter had been shot.
Colonel John Fortunato with JPSO says, "This child was lying in the living room on an air mattress with a cousin and it wasn't until the child began crying that alerted the mother and the other child and that's when she discovered she had a gunshot wound in her neck."
Emergency crews rushed the child to Ocshner Medical Center where she died a short time later.
JPSO reports that within minutes of the initial call of the child being shot, the 9-1-1 call center started receiving calls of gunshots in the area of South Upland & South Cumberland.
Detectives also found numerous bullet holes in the outer walls of several of the buildings in and around building B.
Colonel John Fortunato says it appears as though the victim was shot by someone firing a weapon in the area.
Colonel Fortunato says, "It's believed because of the inherent gunfire that led to those guys shooting guns that this little girl tragically lost her life."
If you have any information call crimestoppers at 822-1111 or the JPSO Homicide Division at 364-5300.
The Sheriff's Office wants anyone with information to call thier Homicide Division at 364-5300 or Crimestoppers at 822-1111.
