Teen girl identified; killed by gunfire that entered her bedroom in west Phoenix

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A teen girl is dead Sunday morning after a shooting in a west Phoenix neighborhood. Police responded to a neighborhood southeast of 107th Avenue and Camelback Road around 8 a.m., where they found 15-year-old Giaginette Brown shot. She did not survive her injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene. Police have blocked off a portion of Taft Street in the neighborhood as they investigate the shooting.

Detectives worked at least two related scenes, one near a home on Taft Street near 109th Avenue and another one street over on Highland Avenue. Police blocked off roads with crime scene tape, collected evidence, took photos, canvassed the West Valley neighborhood and interviewed people who live nearby to try to piece together exactly what happened. One neighbor said he thinks he heard gunshots around midnight. Detectives said Monday morning that Brown was in her bed when shots entered her home between midnight and 3 a.m.

Those who live in the area say this is a family-centered community, which is why this shooting is a somber surprise. “I think it was two [gunshots]. I’m pretty sure it was two, and then I woke up and heard that a young lady was killed from a gunshot wound down there, so I mean it’s unfortunate,” said Anthony Hawk, who moved to the neighborhood from Los Angeles a few weeks ago. “I can just only imagine what the family is going through right now.”

The Tolleson Unified School District sent Arizona’s Family a statement on the tragedy. It reads: “We can confirm that this student was a sophomore at West Point High School. She was a member of the West Point High School Dragon Spiritline. Since this is an ongoing police incident, we direct media to the proper authorities investigating this. We are providing counseling and emotional support for those students and staff members who may be affected by this tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the family at this time.”

In the meantime, the killing has put the neighborhood on edge.

“It hits close to home just because we do have kids. I have 4 of my own, and it’s sad that a family and a parent is actually going through something so horrible, so blessings to them,” said Sotero Boterro, who has lived in the area since 2017. Boterro says it’s a quiet neighborhood, and they’ve never had any issues like this. He moved here to live in a calmer part of town with less crime. He’s never seen a crime scene in the neighborhood before and is surprised this happened. “It’s sad that it’s happening in our neighborhood, and hopefully everything stops and things continue to how they were quiet, calm, a good neighborhood.”

Anyone with information that could lead to a suspect is asked to contact Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.

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