The foster mother of Ma’Khia Bryant, the 16-year-old girl fatally shot by Columbus Police during a fight with several other girls outside her home on April 20, has revealed that the altercation began because of an argument over the tidiness of the house. The teen was shot to death by an officer after she called 911 to say that several girls were threatening her. While she was holding a knife and did not respond to officers’ shouts for her to “get down,” she certainly didn’t deserve to die.
- The argument was between Ma’Khia and two girls who used to live there. Her foster mother, Angela Moore, said that she arrived home after the argument had kicked off, saying: “It was over keeping the house clean. The older one told them to clean up the house because ‘Mom doesn’t like the house dirty.'” One of the other girls later told Moore that Ma’Khia told the other girl, “You’re not the guardian of me.”
- The girls have argued plenty of times before. However, Moore admitted that things had never gotten so bad during previous altercations. She came rushing home after another foster child called her panicking and saying “they’re going crazy.” The other child also told her “they shot Ma’Khia,” which Moore found incredibly confusing until she got home and saw the tragedy that had unfolded. “They argue all the time, but I never thought it would escalate like that,” Moore said.
- Ma’Khia had so much life left in her. “I never in my worst nightmare would have thought it would ever come to this,” Moore admitted of Ma’Khia’s tragic loss. “[Ma’Khia] was fun. She liked to dance. She did chores around the house.” Her family added that the teen was “a good student, a good person.”
- Ma’Khia’s mother, Paula Bryant, is mourning the loss of her “beautiful baby.” “I love God and I’m just going to put it in God’s hands right now,” she said of her daughter’s death at the hands of a police officer. “That’s all I know how to do.” She added: “I want the world to know that Ma’Khia was beautiful. She had a sweet little voice. Oh my gosh, she was just so talented. She was… on the path to going many places, definitely.”
