Suspect in shooting death of 7-year-old Detroit girl arrested in Dallas

Jasmin Barmore
The Detroit News

A suspect sought in the shooting death of a 7-year-old girl in Detroit was arrested in Dallas, Detroit police said Tuesday.

Christion Mitchell-Childress, who was sought in the drive-by shooting of Reginae Williams last month, was apprehended by Dallas authorities Friday, Detroit police said.

Reginae Williams

Mitchell-Childress, 22, of Southfield and Emmett Williams Jr., 19, of Detroit were charged last week with first-degree murder in the death of Reginae. Williams was arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit on Thursday; authorities had been searching for Mitchell-Childress.

He is expected to be extradited to Michigan, but remains in custody in Dallas, where extradition requests can take up to 30 days, authorities said.

Christion Mitchell-Childress

Williams faces a probable cause hearing on Dec. 3 and a preliminary examination on Dec. 10.

Police said a vehicle drove by a home on the 3900 block of Bedford at about 8:20 p.m. on Oct. 28 and opened fire on the house. Reginae had been sleeping on a couch when she was struck in the head by shots fired through the living room window, police said. She died Oct. 30.

"It's sad when you can't go to sleep because you don't know if you'll wake up again," said her mother, Etosha Williams, days after the shooting. "It's sad that as parents, you put your child to sleep, and lay them on the couch, and you're thinking all is well — but yet a coward decides they have nothing better to do than shoot rounds into a house that had two parents and nine children in there."

Etosha Williams, the mother of victim Reginae Williams, pleaded last month for the shooters to turn themselves in.

In a press conference Oct. 30, Detroit police Chief James Craig said investigators were "going to work this case until we bring the cowards responsible for this to justice."

"This is just a senseless loss of life,"Craig said. "These shootings in our community must stop. We're talking about children here."

Mayor Mike Duggan said he  had been to too many press conferences involving slain children. "The worst part about being mayor are the days when an innocent life is taken from this community," Duggan said. "We've been here too often."

Police are asking anyone with information about  the shooting to call the Detroit Police Department Homicide Unit at (313) 596-2260 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.