Ja’nova Parks, a 5-year-old girl, died on June 10, 2026, after a shooting inside a home in Florida City, Florida, near Homestead. The shooting was reported shortly before 2 a.m. at a residence in the 1400 block of Northwest 1st Court. When Florida City police officers arrived, they found Ja’nova suffering from a gunshot wound to her torso, with other reports describing wounds to her stomach and torso.
As emergency crews were still responding, officers took Ja’nova and her mother to
Homestead Hospital. From there, Ja’nova was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where medical staff tried to save her. She later died from her injuries. The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Homicide Bureau took over the investigation, and detectives remained at the home processing evidence and trying to determine exactly how the child was shot.
Investigators said five people were inside the home when the gunfire happened: Ja’nova, her 4-year-old brother, her mother, and two adult men. A firearm was recovered inside the residence. Authorities said they were still working to determine whether Ja’nova somehow accessed the gun herself or whether someone else fired the shot. Detectives had not publicly classified the shooting as accidental or intentional, and they stressed that the circumstances were still unclear.
Ja’nova’s grandmother, Laticha Ellison, was devastated and angry, describing the shooting as something that should never have happened inside a home. She remembered Ja’nova as smart, sassy, bubbly, and bright for her age. Ellison said she did not believe Ja’nova or her little brother would have picked up a gun, saying the children knew guns were dangerous. To the family, the shooting felt like a preventable act of carelessness that took a child far too early.
No arrests had been announced in connection with Ja’nova’s fatal shooting. Detectives said they were interviewing everyone who had been inside the home and continuing to examine evidence. Authorities also said they were not looking for anyone believed to be a threat to the community, suggesting investigators believed the key people involved or witnesses were already known to them.
Ja’nova’s mother, Ashley Marie Hosendove, was arrested after the shooting, but officials said that arrest was on an unrelated charge. Jail and court records showed Hosendove faced a disorderly conduct or breach of the peace charge tied to a March incident, not to Ja’nova’s death. A bench warrant had reportedly been issued after she missed court dates in that separate case. She later appeared in bond court, where the judge addressed the missed appearances. That arrest did not mean she had been charged in the shooting.
As of the latest available reports, the case remained an active homicide investigation. Detectives had not named a suspect, had not announced charges related to the gunfire, and had not said whether the firearm belonged to anyone inside the home. The central unanswered question remained how a gun inside the house ended up killing Ja’nova Parks in the middle of the night, while her family and investigators were left to sort through the grief, the evidence, and the possibility that the tragedy could have been prevented.
