3-year-old found shot at fire station dies, DC cops say. Now, $50,000 reward offered

When police in Washington D.C. responded to the sound of a shooting Friday night, officers found a 3-year-old girl at a fire station who had been shot, they said.

Ty’ah Settles died shortly after officers and other responders tried saving her the evening of May 3, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Now police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible, authorities said in a May 6 news release.

Police Cmdr. LaShay Makal called Ty’ah’s death an “absolute tragedy” and “unacceptable” at a news conference May 3.

“A 3-year-old girl lost her life today. My phone should be ringing right now,” Makal said. “We really, really need the community to reach out and help us.”

Ty’ah was inside of a car when she was struck by a bullet in Southeast DC, where she lived, according to police. U.S. Park Police ultimately airlifted her to a hospital, where she died, authorities said.

It’s believed that she was inside the car with a family member, who brought her to the fire station, when gunfire erupted, Makal said at the conference.

Shell casings littered the sidewalk near the fire station, according to Makal, who said it’s suspected that there was an exchange of gunfire.

When contacted by McClatchy News on May 6, MPD spokesperson and Officer Makhetha Watson said in an emailed statement that “we are only able to provide that (Ty’ah) was with a family member at the time of the shooting.”

Ty’ah’s mother Darnisha Pelzer told the Washington Post that her daughter “brightened a room.”

“Everyone loved her,” she said.

Ty’ah is the youngest, and 58th, person killed in the city in 2024, the Washington Post reported.

Anyone with information about the shooting that killed Ty’Ah is urged to call police at 202-727-9099.

Tips can also be texted to police through the MPD’s tip line at 50411.

Man fatally shoots a brother and sister, then escapes in rideshare, Missouri cops say

Two women found shot dead at park, missing baby found, New Mexico police say

5-year-old shot dead by child who found shotgun in grandparents’ bedroom, MI cops say