WASHINGTON — Makiyah Wilson was on her way to an ice cream truck when she was caught in the crossfire as a group of masked men hopped out of a car at her apartment complex and opened fire on a crowd of people.
Makiyah, just a fifth-grader, died in the shooting at Clay Terrace in Northeast D.C. and now her family is suing the District of Columbia Housing Authority.
The lawsuit alleges the Housing Authority was negligent in failing to provide security gates, guards, or even functioning security cameras – all of which they say might have prevented the shooting.
“Indeed, the assailants were unencumbered by any gate which would have precluded them from driving into the parking area…undeterred by any security detail which may have discouraged their brazen attack and emboldened by the absence of any functional security camera system which would have captured more readily their images,” the McDaniel Law Group said in a release on behalf of the family announcing the lawsuit on Tuesday.
The Wilson family is suing the city for $30 million.
“In the face of rampant crime and violence that has taken place within the small confines of the Clay Terrace community, the District of Columbia Housing Authority simply failed Makiyah,” the release said. “They have failed all of the residents of this public housing cooperative by turning a blind eye to their living conditions and refusing to respond to the violence which they confront on an all too regular basis."
Makiyah’s mother, Donnetta Wilson, has previously told WUSA9 she was happy with the progress the Metropolitan Police Department has made handling the case. So far, seven suspects have been arrested in her murder.
Her family and their attorneys will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.