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Shooters aiming at different car when 11-year-old girl was killed, affidavit says

D’Morea Keys, 22, charged with capital murder

Donita Phillips, 11, was hit by gunfire meant for someone else. (Crawford family, KSAT 12 News)

SAN ANTONIO – Court documents related to the arrest of a suspect in a deadly shooting last summer show the 11-year-old girl who was killed and her family were not the intended targets.

San Antonio police caught up with D’Morea Keys, 22, Thursday night, nearly five months after the shooting.

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He was booked into the Bexar County jail on a charge of capital murder.

An arrest warrant affidavit says police identified him as one of two shooters involved in the killing of Donita Phillips, 11, back on August 15.

Phillips was traveling with her family in their SUV, heading past the 5400 block of Walzem Road, when their vehicle was sprayed with gunfire.

Man facing capital murder in shooting death of 11-year-old girl

Her parents spoke to KSAT 12 News soon after the shooting, saying her six siblings who also were in the vehicle had to watch as she died.

“We lost something we can never get back. Our lives are changed forever,” said Michael Crawford, Phillips’ father.

Despite social media comments to the contrary, her parents insisted at the time that there was no reason for anyone to target them.

“It wasn’t a target. We’re not in that type of lifestyle. It wasn’t road rage,” her mother, Patricia Crawford, told KSAT 12 News in August.

The affidavit supports what they said, that the family simply was caught in the crossfire.

It says the shooters were aiming at a different car when bullets hit Phillips as well as another innocent victim in another vehicle. It appears the other victim survived the shooting.

Police reviewed surveillance video from several nearby businesses.

The affidavit says they found clues on that video and also received tips pointing them toward Keys.

It says investigators are still working to identify the second shooter.

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About the Authors
Katrina Webber headshot

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.

Tim Stewart headshot

Tim has been a photojournalist and video editor at KSAT since 1998. He came to San Antonio from Lubbock, where he worked in TV and earned his bachelor's degree in Electronic Media and Communication from Texas Tech University. Tim has won a handful of awards and has earned a master's in Strategic Communication and Innovation from Tech as well.

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