A 17-year-old high school cheerleader died after being shot in the head by a stray bullet at a house party in Arizona – and now nine teens face charges in connection to the case.
Star pupil Hailey Stephens was at a party in a vacant house along East Silver Reef Road in Casa Grande when a gunfight broke out around 1.30am.
Police said Stephens and another 17-year-old girl were ‘innocent bystanders’ and were hit by stray bullets.
Stephens was taken to a hospital in Phoenix in a critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head and died a few hours later.
‘Hailey had a huge life left in front of her. Somebody did something wrong and they should pay for their crime,’ her mother said.
Nine teenagers, including a 13-year-old, have been arrested in connection to the shooting. Five of them have been charged with murder and the other four with criminal trespassing.
Hailey Stephens, 17, died after being shot in the head by a stray bullet at a house party in Arizona in the early hours of Nov. 26
She was a star pupil and beloved daughter with a bright future ahead of her and several college offers
The other victim was hit in the arm and is expected to recover.
Tributes to Stephens have poured in and her fellow Casa Grande Union High School students have left flowers and cards around campus.
She was a star pupil with a 4.3 GPA and college offers pouring in, and a top cheerleader who had even appeared on Friday Night Fever.
Her mother, Vanessa Stephens told 12News: ‘She was a great kid. She far exceeded our expectations all the time.
‘She only had those 17 years with us. I made her my No. 1 priority from when she was born. For the past months I had been seeing signs of her maturing.
‘It’s a horrible, awful crime,’ the heartbroken mom added.
The vacant home was riddled with bullets after the fight, with local news counting over a dozen holes.
The owner of the house was devastated and said the house had been left trashed after the party.
Stephens’s father, Chris Stephens, is a firefighter in Casa Grande.
The house was left riddled with over a dozen bullet holes
The owner of the home was devastated when they found out and said it had been trashed during the party
Police said a fight broke out at the home in East Silver Reef Road around 1.30am
Nine teens have been arrested in connection to the shooting, five of them have been charged with murder
He told 12News: ‘I know they didn’t go there meaning to shoot my daughter in the head, but they did. I hope they feel the pain that we feel and I hope they’re sorry for it.’
The firefighters set up a GoFundMe page to support the family with medical bills and funeral costs, saying: ‘Hailey was an active student that excelled academically and in extra curricular activities.
‘She was truly loved by her family and friends. Please if you can, help support the Stephens family in this time of grief.’
As of Sunday morning, they had raised over $74,000.
On Friday night, students, parents and teachers held a vigil for Stephens and lit candles in her memory.
Of the nine teenagers arrested in connection with her death, eight are minors and one is just 13 years old.
Stephens was a star cheerleader at Casa Grande Union High School and had even appeared on Friday Night Fever
Her parents said she was a ‘great kid’ and urged anyone with information to come forward
Tributes have poured in to Stephens with fellow students leaving flowers and cards
Students, parents and teachers held a candle lit vigil for Stephens on Friday night
At least five of them faced murder charges and four others faced charges of criminal trespassing, according to the Casa Grande Police Department.
The first arrests were made on Tuesday when a 16-year-old boy from Casa Grande and a 17-year-old boy from Coolidge were charged with second-degree murder.
Both were booked into the Pinal County Juvenile Detention Center.
An 18-year-old suspect turned himself in on Wednesday night. He was booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center on charges of second-degree murder.
Then on Thursday, police said another four Casa Grande teenage boys — one 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds and one 17-year-old, were arrested.
On Saturday, two more teenage boys aged 13 and 15 were arrested and booked into the Pinal County Juvenile Detention Center on first-degree murder charges.
Police said in a statement on Saturday: ‘CGPD Detectives continue to actively investigate this case.
‘As a reminder, we are asking anyone with information regarding this party and/or incident to contact Detective Nicholas Elliott immediately at our non-emergency number at (520) 421-8700 #7 or email [email protected].’
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