On August 17, 2012, a seven-year-old girl named Kristyana Jackson was shot in the head while returning home from a Friday night football game with her mother. At the time, there had been a string of break-ins in the Jacksons’ neighborhood in Elkhart, Indiana.
That night, Kristyana’s father, John, stayed home to take care of their seven-month-old son, while Kristyana and her mother, Kimi, went to a football game. When they got home, Kristyana jumped out of the car and ran toward the front door to see her dad and little brother.
All of a sudden, a group of armed men appeared from around the side of the house. One of them grabbed Kimi, and another grabbed Kristyana. When John heard them scream, he instinctively ran to the door. As soon as he opened the door, the gunmen started shooting at him.
Kristyana had been standing in the line of fire, between her father and one of the shooters. John was shot multiple times, twice in the back and once in the shoulder. The men fled on foot.
John brought Kristyana inside the house, and that was when they realized she had been shot in the head. John screamed for help from the front door as Kimi called 911. A neighbor, who was a former army medic, heard the screams and rushed over to apply pressure to Kristyana’s wounds.
Kristyana was taken to a hospital with a better trauma center, while John went to one closer to home. Kristyana underwent surgery to release the pressure building on her brain.
For two days, she remained in intensive care. In the end, she sadly succumbed to her injuries. Her parents decided to donate her liver and kidneys.
They described her as an “angel” and an “old soul.” The seven-year-old had even received an award at school for stepping in when a younger student was being bullied.
“Just a really caring seven-year-old. You wouldn’t think all of the love that she gave that she could possibly be seven, but she gave a whole lot,” said John in an interview with Joshua Short from WNDU 16 News Now.
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The police interviewed them about what happened and took John’s phone for a week to search it, but they found nothing worth noting.
Now, more than a decade has passed since Kristyana was shot. Her case is still open, but not much progress has been made. Her parents are urging the Elkhart County prosecutor, Vicki Becker, to hand the case over to the attorney general of the state.
“We’ve just been living in limbo,” said John. “We are still those parents that want to know who murdered their seven-year-old daughter and tried to murder her father. There’s nothing else we can do besides keep her name out there, and maybe somebody will say something sooner or later.”
If you have any information about Kristyana’s murder, you can contact the Elkhart County Homicide Unit at 574-295-2825 or the Michiana Crime Stoppers at 574-288-STOP.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
