Fourteen-year-old Shanaiya Alexis Wright-Williams was killed in Elba, Alabama, on the evening of August 9, 2023. Officers who responded to reports of a shooting in a residential neighborhood found Shanaiya with gunshot wounds; she was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. Authorities have classified her death as a homicide.

Investigators say Shanaiya had been at a private gathering earlier that evening where an altercation or dispute is believed to have escalated into the shooting. The weapon used was reportedly registered to someone connected to people at the gathering. Law enforcement has been interviewing witnesses and family members as the investigation continues.

Shanaiya is remembered by those who knew her as kind-hearted and promising. If anyone attended the gathering or has information about what happened that night, please come forward to assist the ongoing inquiry.