The 17-year-old girl who was shot as the drove through a Northeast D.C. neighborhood earlier this week has died, police said Sunday.
Jamahri Sydnor died Saturday after she was hit by a bullet intended for someone else Thursday afternoon on Saratoga Avenue NE. She was 17.
Sydnor, a recent graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest D.C. was due to start college at Florida A&M University within days. She was captain of her high school's cheerleading squad and sang in the choir.
"She was the embodiment of what we want a Wilson grad to be," Principal Kimberly Martin said.
"She was a wonderful kid. She was very studious, up on all the current events. Came to class smiling," teacher Eden McCauslin said, crying. "She was really curious about the world."
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke on Monday about the need to get illegal guns off the street.
"It's sickening. There are no words for it, to lose a young girl who's done everything right," she said.
Syndor's mother is a D.C. police sergeant, sources told News4. D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, in comments on Friday, declined to confirm that information.
The teenager was driving in broad daylight less than a mile from home, on the 1400 block of Saratoga Avenue NE, when someone opened fire and she was wounded, police said.
At least one person, standing at the intersection of Montana and Saratoga avenues, began shooting across the street at a group of people standing outside an apartment building on Saratoga Avenue, the police incident report said. A total of 12 shots were fired.
One of those bullets hit Sydnor. Her car, a white sedan, crashed into a parked car.
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A man, who was not in the car, also was shot and wounded.
D.C. police responded about 3:30 p.m. to the scene, which is about a half-mile northeast of the District's Home Depot store. Police cars and officers flooded the block.
Sydnor and the man, who was conscious, were both taken to a hospital.
Newsham, in comments on Friday, as Sydnor fought for her life, lashed out against violent, armed young men in the District.
"We have young men that go out there and they feel like they can resolve disputes with a firearm. What we had here is we had an innocent person that was caught up in that," he said.
Phillip Carlos McDaniel, 21, of Northeast D.C., was arrested, and police are still seeking two other people. McDaniel initially was charged with assault with intent to kill. Upgraded charges are pending.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact police. A reward of as much as $25,000 is offered.
A vigil for Sydnor is being planned, and grief counselors were available at Wilson High on Monday.
"She's just that, that student you'll always remember," college and career coordinator Patrice Arrington said, clapping her hand to her heart.
