Shot dead over Facebook: the late Kierra'onna Rice (Photo : Kierra'onna Rice Memorial on Facebook)
A second killing attributed to Facebook posts took the life of a 14 year-old girl who was shot and killed in Birmingham, Alabama Feb. 28 after a fight that started on Facebook.
The victim, Kierra'onna Rice, belonged to a group of girls that had been quarreling on Facebook over the past few weeks. The feuding girls decided to a brawl at a Birmingham park. They also intended to videotape their fight and post it on the internet, said CNN.
Birmingham police said after the fight started, two teenage males suddenly pulled out guns and started shooting at the girls. The shots killed Rice and wounded two other girls.
Police later arrested two suspects, ages 17 and 19, who were identified by witnesses. The names of the suspects have not been released but one of them is said to have been dating one of the girls who was fighting Kierra'onna.
"This was an absolutely senseless killing," Birmingham Police Lt. Sean Edwards told People magazine. "They took it upon themselves to fire recklessly into a crowd."
He noted that police are seeing an increase in armed teenagers.
"We are starting to see them become more violent," he said. "They're using guns to solve their issues."
The death of Rice is the second death traced to a Facebook squabble in two months. On Feb. 8, 13 year-old Anthony Diaz was shot and killed in Chicago over Facebook posts.
Diaz was out with his two older sisters when he was fatally shot in the chest, according to Chicago police. He was with his sisters who had gotten into a fight with other girls over Facebook posts.
Police said Diaz was using his phone to video the fight when he was shot. Diaz was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in serious condition but was later pronounced dead, police said. No one was immediately arrested for Diaz's murder.
