7-year-old girl shot dead in New Orleans while riding in car

A 7-year old girl was shot dead while she rode in the backseat of her mother’s car in New Orleans one day after Christmas, cops said.

Dillan Burton was hit when someone opened fire on her mother’s car in the city’s Algiers neighborhood at about 8:43 p.m. on Sunday, according to New Orleans Police Department. Dillon’s mother wasn’t injured, nor was the child’s 6-year-old sister who was also a passenger.

Grieving mother Maquisha Burton, 24, was left stunned by the killing of the second-grader.

“My baby. My baby. My baby. My baby. I need my baby,” Burton told nola.com. “Why would they do this to my child? Why would they do this to Dillan?”

“Dillan didn’t deserve this,” said Burton, who was described by nola.com as sobbing during the interview. “My baby didn’t deserve this. Jesus, why my baby? Why? Why? Why? Why my child?”

Caution tape
The New Orleans police department is still trying to identify the shooter in the case.
Shutterstock

Burton said she drove away from the scene of the shooting to get to safety. The mortally wounded girl was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police released a photo earlier on Monday asking for help locating a light-colored pickup truck suspected in the shooting. The vehicle appears to be a newer model Chevy that is either white or silver. A second photo released Wednesday showed a green Nissan Armada SUV and was described as “a vehicle of interest.”

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson issued a joint statement saying they were in shock over the violence.

“It is unbearably tragic,” the statement said. “As a City, as a community — we reject this. How often have we said ‘one is too many?’ This one, alone, is too much. This child deserved better of us. Somebody out there knows who pulled the trigger. We need them to come forward.”

With Post wires

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