4-year-old girl dies after ‘targeted’ Nashville shooting, family says

“From all appearances, this is a targeted shooting,” Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said.
Metro Police said the 4-year-old shot last night at a red light on Dickerson Pike has now died.
Published: May. 31, 2023 at 2:15 PM CDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A four-year-old girl died after the car she was in was shot at in an apparent targeted shooting, according to the girl’s family and police.

Metro Police said the shooting occurred at a red light at the intersection of Dickerson Pike and Douglas Avenue just before 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Two people got out of a car that stopped at the red light and opened fire at the car with three children inside. The 4-year-old girl, identified as Taliyah Frazier, and two other two-year-olds were in the back seat of the car.

Frazier was shot in the head and later succumbed to her injuries, police said. One of the two-year-olds was grazed in the head by a bullet. A 22-year-old man driving the car was shot in the arm.

“From all appearances, this is a targeted shooting,” Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said. “They were stopped at the red light, two persons got out of the car and opened fire.”

Police found more than 20 casings on the ground at the intersection. Another car was also hit by bullets, but no injuries were reported.

Aaron said the man drove the car to the Family Dollar store about three miles from the shooting scene. It’s believed that the mom of one of the children in the car may have worked there.

A witness told WSMV4 she and her boyfriend were in the back of a Lyft at the red light when all of a sudden shots rang out right next to them and shrapnel hit their car.

“I was afraid to look. My boyfriend and I slumped down in our seats so we wouldn’t be near the windows. Our Lyft driver immediately sped down Douglas to get away and we heard continued gunfire all the way down Meridian,” the witness said.

“I believe he’s already contacted the police because I heard them describe a witness statement that only could have come from either him, me, or my boyfriend as we were the only ones at the red light that weren’t involved with the shooting.”