Family members identify 7-year-old shot, killed in mother’s car

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A 7-year-old girl died Sunday night (Dec. 26) after being shot in the back as she rode in a car with her mother and a sibling in Algiers, New Orleans police said.

Visibly angered by what he termed a “horrible, horrible incident,” NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson pleaded for help from the public to bring the girl’s killer to justice by providing any information that could help investigators.

“What could a 7-year-old possibly have done to be a victim of such a heinous crime as this?” Ferguson asked.

“Someone does know something. And no matter how small or minute you think it may be, we ask you to please contact our Homicide Division (504-658-5300) or Crimestoppers (504-822-1111).”

Ferguson said the child was shot at 8:43 p.m., as her mother drove her two children through the intersection of General DeGaulle Drive and Hendee Street.

The woman heard gunfire and drove to the 1200 block of Milton Street in Gretna, where she called Gretna police. From there, her daughter was transported to a hospital where she died, Ferguson said. Neither the mother nor the other child in the car were injured, police said.

A family member confirmed the girl’s identity as Dillan Burton.

“It’s very disheartening,” Ferguson said. “You can only imagine what that family is going through right now, on a holiday weekend, the day after Christmas.”

With five days left in 2021, New Orleans already has surpassed 200 homicides for the first time since 2011, and could finish with one of its highest murder counts in decades.

“What I’m concerned with is the lack of respect for life,” Ferguson said, “the boldness of our criminals right now. ... Our city is starting to suffer for that.”

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