Six-year-old Girl Shot and Killed in Vehicle

In a shopping center parking lot in Detroit, Michigan, six-year-old Rebecca Brundidge was fatally shot after being left unattended in a car with four siblings. Their mother, 41-year-old Tonya Charisse-Annise Johnson, had gone into a restaurant, and left her five children, ages two to 11 years old, in the car. “During that time that she was in the restaurant, one of her minor children found an unsecured gun under the front driver’s seat of the car and then turned around and shot his 6-year-old sister in the back of the head,” said a prosecuting attorney. “This will affect these children forever. The loss of the life of one of their siblings in a closed compartment of the defendant’s car cannot be unseen,” said the county prosecutor. 

Investigators found other unsecured weapons at Johnson’s home. Johnson faces multiple felony charges including violating Michigan’s safe storage laws, and child abuse.

Rebecca’s grandmother said she was a typical child who enjoyed playing, and spending time with her cousins and siblings. “She was a happy baby, a happy girl. She was her mother’s helper; she looked out for everyone, her sisters, her baby brother,” she said. 

The is the second time in two days, that a six-year-old girl was unintentionally shot in Detroit.

Sources:

Noelle Friel, “Grandmother Seeks Answers After 6-year-old Killed in Car with Unsecured Gun Outside Detroit Shopping Plaza,” clickondetroit.com (March 5, 2026).

Paula Wethington, Heath Kalb, “Mother Charged in Aftermath of Shooting That Killed 6-year-old Detroit Girl,”cbsnews.com (March 5, 2026).