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A teenage girl was shot dead after attending a high school basketball game with friends – and two of her fellow classmates are now facing charges of murder.
Christine Michael, 17, was driving back with three other teens from the away game at Ripley High in Tennessee Friday when the gunfire started.
Michael, who reportedly had been a promising student with aspirations to be a model, was shot in the back and killed, while another passenger, an unnamed 13-year-old, was also struck and injured.
Two teenage suspects, 18-year-old Kevion Davis and 16-year-old Bishop Owens, have since been arrested and charged with the girl’s death. Cops have confirmed both are students at Haywood High, where Michael was class president.
The suspected gunmen – both members of the school football team, according to police – are now facing charges of with first-degree murder for Michael’s death, as well as three counts of attempted murder due to there being four people in the car during the shooting. The driver and other passenger were not injured.
Christine Michael, 17, was driving back with three other teens from the away game at Ripley High in Tennessee Friday when she was shot in the back and killed by at least two assailants
Two teenage suspects, 18-year-old Kevion Davis (pictured) and 16-year-old Bishop Owens, have since been arrested and charged with the girl’s death. Cops have confirmed both are students at Haywood High, where Michael was class president
Residents are now mourning Michael, who reportedly had a 4.0 GPA and had no apparent ties to her alleged killers – despite attending the same school.
Providing an update to their investigation on Monday, cops in Haywood County said they had yet to glean a motive for the shooting, and that Michael had no connection to whatever sparked the incident.
Speaking to reporters and concerned members of the community, Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett revealed that Michael caught a ride home with several unnamed teens who they believe were the gunmen’s true targets.
He said Michael was a ‘good kid’ who got caught in the crossfire, and added of a potential motive: ‘I can tell you it’s just a group of young people who were angry at each other for whatever reason.
‘And the only way they knew, or the best way they knew to solve the problem, was to grab guns and solve it and that’s not the answer,’ Garrett said.
Two days earlier, Garrett’s department tracked down Davis to his residence at 668 Bell St in Brownsville, and arrested the high school senior.
The teenage suspect – who announced that he was a ‘walk on commit’ to Arkansas State University in a post to social media in December – was then booked in the Haywood County Jail, where he was held with no bond on first degree murder charges.
Less than two hours later, Haywood County cops descended on the home of the other suspect, 16-year-old Owens, who they were able to arrest with help from the Brownsville Police Department.
Providing an update to their investigation on Monday, cops in Haywood County said they had yet to glean a motive for the shooting, which was allegedly carried out by Michael’s fellow students at Haywood High School
Providing an update to their investigation on Monday, Haywood County Sheriff Billy Garrett said police believe that Michael was not the intended target by the Haywood football players
Davis was arraigned Monday, with his case handed over to the state’s attorney general. Online record indicate Davis also plays basketball at Haywood High, though it is unclear if he was playing in the Friday game that led up to the shooting.
A Twitter account belonging Davis published a post boasting of attention he had been receiving from various college scouts over the course of his senior year.
‘I swear it’s a blessing to have different colleges hitting me up everyday, even though my season ended in Week 4 by a torn ACL,’ the teen wrote on December 3, 2022.
Owens, meanwhile, due to his age, is being held in detention by juvenile court officials, and is facing the same charges as Davis. He also is being held without bond.
As cops continue to probe what spurred the shooting, residents and relatives have been left to make sense of the tragedy, and are mourning a minor who likely had a bright future.
‘They robbed me of my child. They took my baby. They robbed me. I’ll never have grandchildren by her,’ Tiffany Michael, the girl’s mother, told local outlet WREG Monday.
Michael’s classmate said the victim – who had a 4.0 GPA – helped influence her ‘start fighting for’ better grades due to her dedication at school, as well as her drive to one day pursue a career in modelling
The victim’s classmate, Synandiaha Welch, said Michael had helped influence her ‘start fighting for’ better grades due to her dedication at school, as well as her drive to one day pursue a career in modelling.
‘She was smart. She had goals,’ Welch told FOX 13. ‘She talked about how she wanted to be a model. She wanted to be a CNA. She wanted to have a good life.’
Sheriff Garrett added: ‘The incident that took the life of Christine Michael Friday night will forever change the lives of a great many people.
‘Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Michael family during this extremely difficult time, and we want to support and uplift them as they work through the pain that this tragedy has brought to their family.’
Despite the sever nature of incident, classes at Haywood High resumed as normal Monday.
Sheriff Garrett and Haywood County Schools Superintendent Amie Marsh, assured students that counseling would be available to those affected by the shooting.
In the statement, Michael was described as ‘a promising student who had tremendous plans for her future.’
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