BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A 21-year-old man was arraigned Wednesday on a sealed indictment in connection with the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old girl last summer, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced during a news conference.
Flynn said Avantae Ayala was indicted for allegedly shooting teenager Miracle Hunt on July 7 near Broadway and Mortimer Street while he was the passenger of a vehicle driving by. He was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Flynn said Ayala allegedly fired a single shot into a crowd of about 20 young people standing outside The Forge Apartments, which struck Hunt in the head as the group began to scatter. She was declared deceased at the scene.
The alleged shooting stemmed from a “beef” between two groups that Hunt was not involved in, according to Flynn, adding that Ayala was allegedly targeting other people within the crowd. The vehicle that Ayala was riding in, as well as another vehicle driving in tandem with it, were alleged to have been stolen.
In the days after the shooting, Hunt’s mother, Marie, called her daughter “a happy person” and “a big help to her.” She added that Hunt ran track and was a cheerleading coach, as well as a big sister.
Ayala was already incarcerated in a state facility outside Western New York on weapon and stolen property charges in connection with another incident Flynn did not divulge. He was remanded to the Erie County holding center following Wednesday’s arraignment.
Flynn praised Buffalo police for their work in the investigation, saying authorities “never gave up on this case.”
“This is outstanding police work 101,” Flynn said. “When you want to talk about solving a crime and putting the pieces and the puzzle together and working a case up, this is the textbook example of how you do that.”
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia credited the advanced technology that police have at their disposal as a big reason behind the indictment, which came over eight months after the shooting.
“Cases like these show just how important technology is,” Gramaglia said. “To anybody that thinks that this technology is big brother, it’s an overreach — this is keeping our community safe. And when we’re not able to keep our community safe because someone gets shot, someone gets murdered, we need that technology to bring somebody to justice.”