Three charged in shooting death of 12-year-old Victorville girl

Three people were charged Tuesday with murder in the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old girl who was the victim of an ongoing dispute between the suspects and her mother, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney.

Anthony Pitts, 26, of Adelanto; Reyna Mercado, 28, of San Bernardino; and Danielle Cummings, 29, of Apple Valley, also are facing one count each of shooting at an inhabited dwelling, according to the district attorney’s office.

They were arrested Thursday in connection with the death of Makiya Walls, who was gunned down inside her home.

“Once again, we have an innocent child caught in the crossfire,” District Atty. Mike Ramos said in a statement. “A young life taken away far too soon.”

Authorities said Makiya was inside her two-story home just before 8:30 p.m. Wednesday when Pitts, a gang member, walked up and fired several shotgun rounds into the house. Makiya was struck by the gunfire and later died at a hospital.

On Friday, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said Makiya was not the intended target. Investigators discovered there was a brewing feud between Makiya’s mother, Pitts, Mercado and Cummings, he said.

Investigators said that the dispute had been going on for the past several months and that there had been an argument earlier Wednesday between both families.

Authorities declined to release details about the dispute.

During the investigation, authorities arrested Makiya’s mother, 35-year-old Maesha Lundy, and her mother’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Christopher Hicks, in connection with making threatening calls to Cummings and her family.

The Sheriff’s Department said the threats were credible.

But Christopher Lee, a district attorney spokesman, said prosecutors declined to file charges against Makiya’s mother and her mother’s boyfriend “due to insufficient evidence to prove guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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