Whenever school let out, Jahnya Ware would lace up her blue Hannah Montana high-top sneakers and sing along to the pop star’s CD. The 7-year-old knew all the words.
“She would dance and sing,” her cousin Michael Georges, 21, recalled. “She made us all smile. She brought us happiness.” But on Friday night, Jahnya’s life was cut short when a car she was riding in was riddled with bullets on a Little Haiti street.
“My baby, she’s innocent,” her mother, Estelle Voltaire, said sobbing at Miami police headquarters Saturday afternoon. “They took my baby. My only girl.” Throughout the day, detectives searched for answers in the senseless killing of the young girl, as her family grieved. Police say the car was targeted, but do not know why, and they along with tearful relatives pleaded for help from the public.
[pagebreak]
Known as Nana to her family and friends, Jahnya was described as a bright child who enjoyed going to school, her aunt Jennifer Voltaire said.
She was especially good on the computer, always asking to visit websites with math and reading games.
As much as Jahnya loved teen pop star Hannah Montana, she also loved playing football with her 9-year-old brother and cousins. Her cousins described her as a tomboy.
