DeAndre Hopkins pledges game check to find Houston girl’s killer
Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will donate his NFL playoff game check to the family of a 7-year-old girl who was killed in an unprovoked shooting in the Houston area, saying the youngster reminds him of his own daughter.
“When I see Jazmine Barnes’ face, I see my own daughter,” Hopkins, 26, tweeted Thursday. “On Saturday, I will be playing in your honor, Jazmine.”
Hopkins’ AFC wild-card game check will be donated to Barnes’ family to help offset funeral costs and to add to the growing reward being offered by authorities for information leading to an arrest in the case.
“It’s been a moving number, but it’s safe to say that the number is in the six figures,” Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jason Spencer told The Post.
A major update in the case could come as soon as Thursday afternoon with the release of a sketch of a possible suspect, Spencer said.
“Our investigators have been sifting through a consistent stream of tips coming in locally and nationally,” Spencer said. “And the ones that have the most specificity and the most promise are being prioritized. Obviously, no arrests have been made or arrest warrants issued, but we are getting promising leads that are being pursued.”
Spencer said investigators believe the suspect is a white man, possibly in his 40s. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez told reporters Monday that the shooter fired several shots from a red pickup truck into a car with Jazmine, her mother and three sisters inside.
Jazmine was pronounced dead at the scene — near a Walmart in northeast Harris County — while her mother, LaPorsha Washington, was shot in the arm. Jazmine’s 6-year-old sister also was hurt by shattered glass after the gunman fired into the family’s car “totally unprovoked,” Gonzalez said.
“The family should be celebrating and spending time together anticipating the new year and instead they’re making plans to bury this innocent, precious child,” he told reporters Monday.
A civil rights attorney representing the child’s family recently said the shooting is strikingly similar to another seemingly random and racially motivated shooting in 2017.
Hopkins’ goodwill, meanwhile, was immediately noted on Twitter.
“Talented as you are classy sir!” one reply read. “Not that you need it from me, but you will always have my respect and admiration.”
A community rally in Jazmine’s honor has been scheduled for Saturday in the Walmart parking lot near where she was killed. A funeral and a ceremonial balloon release will follow Monday at Houston’s Green House International Church.
“Will not rest until we find #JusticeForJazmine,” Gonzalez tweeted. “Our @HCSOTexas team is working hard to bring closure to her family. Jazmine would soon be celebrating another birthday, instead her funeral is being planned. No words.”
