It would be the worst phone call Jonathan Phillips ever received: His 7-year-old daughter, Ava Phillips, had been shot in the head and killed.
The call shocked Phillips, as he’d left Ava and his son with their mother for a family gathering at an Atlanta, Georgia, apartment complex on Saturday night, he told
Channel 2 News. But that family party had turned sour, he’d later find out, ending with his daughter killed, her mother arrested, and a 23-year-old man charged with murder.
Cops say an argument broke out for an unreleased reason at the Camden Vantage Apartment complex around 10:15 p.m. and shots were fired. Cops were called, but Ava was dead with a bullet wound to her head by the time officers arrived at the scene.
“Any death is tragic, but when there’s a child involved, it really hits home,” Atlanta police Deputy Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said at a press conference Monday.
While Ava was killed Saturday, her alleged killer, Deshon Collins, remained at-large on Monday, Atlanta police said, with a warrant out for his arrest. The girl’s mother, 44-year-old Kemeka Springfield, was taken into custody on Monday.
Authorites have not specified their exact roles in Ava’s death, but Collins faces a murder charge while Springfield faces charges of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
