Ind. Teen Driving Car Is Allegedly Shot to Death by Backseat Passenger Days After Her Birthday
An Indiana teen was fatally shot while driving Tuesday after an assault-style rifle allegedly in the possession of the man seated behind her in the vehicle discharged, hitting her in the back.
A Marion police statement identified the victim as 19-year-old Annalysa McMillan, of Gas City. Fox59 reports she died five days after her birthday.
“The last text that she sent to her step-father was that she loved him, and those things are glued to hold tight when everything is trying to blow you apart,” Eastview Wesleyan Church Lead Pastor Mark Atkinson told the station.
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Police said Austin Mark Smith, 22, has been charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and reckless homicide.
The shooting caused a minor accident with another vehicle, police said. Two other passengers in the car were not injured.
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Atkinson described McMillan as “an encouraging, bubbly young lady who had a bright future and was heading in the right direction.”
Smith is currently in the Grant County Jail on $1,005 bond, according to online records.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he has retained an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
