Teen Raleigh girl's death a sign of 'incredibly disturbing' trend for youth violence

Mykia Daniel, an eighth grader at Ligon Middle School, was shot and killed on Monday in a north Raleigh apartment. A 16-year-old was charged with her murder.

Around 2:30 a.m. on Monday, officers responded to The Trails of North Hills Apartments off Lead Mine Road. When they arrived, they found Daniel already dead from being shot.

A representative for the girl's family described the apartment as a "party house" and said Daniel did not live in the apartment where she was found dead. She lived in southeast Raleigh.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting are not clear as of Thursday. Detectives are working to learn possible motives.

Deaths like Daniel's are illustrative of a rise in juvenile murder rates in the Triangle and North Carolina. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said the effort to reduce violence has to be community-wide and not just from law enforcement and the courts.

"In my over 25 years in the criminal justice system, this is unprecedented [for] young people killing young people," said Freeman. "The increase in violence among our youth is incredibly disturbing."

In 2023, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety recorded 66 instances of juveniles between the ages of 16 and 17 being charged with murder and 28 murder charges for those between the ages of 13 and 15.

Since Jan. 1, 2023, seven people under 18 have been murdered in Durham. Six people under 18 were murdered in Raleigh in that time. From 2021 to 2023, there were 76 juveniles, ages 13-15, charged with murder. There were 187 16- and 17-year-olds charged with murder in those same years.

"Our hearts go out to the family and friends of this young person in the community," Freeman said.

Freeman said if the evidence is there, they could take this case to a grand jury, where it could be transferred to adult court. She said the deaths continue to rattle the community, and she hopes parents sit down with their children to talk about the dangers of gun violence.

"We have to be willing to talk to children about these issues," said Freeman.

A balloon release for Daniel will be at Chavis Community Center in Raleigh on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Police said the investigation is ongoing and more information will be released at the appropriate time.