The sketch was compiled from descriptions given by Jazmine's mother and three sisters, who were also in the car. Authorities said a man in a red or maroon pickup drove up next to them around 7 a.m. and opened fire for no apparent reason.
ttorney Lee Merritt, who is assisting Jazmine’s family, said Saturday that he believes the shooting could be race-related, and he said previously that there seemed to be no other motivation for the crime but race.
"There was no other justification or the motivation that the family could identify, other than a white male who was a complete stranger to them decided to target their family," Merritt said Thursday at a news conference with the sheriff.
Image: Mugshot, Suspect killer of Jazmine Barnes
The Harris County Sheriff's Office released this sketch of a suspect in the Dec. 30 killing of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes.HCSOTexas
"He had a chance to look into the car, see young girls, observe that family, and without any other explanation he decided to riddle the car with bullets," Merritt said Thursday. In regards to Barnes’s case, Merritt, the civil rights attorney, has no doubt that the family was targeted because they were black. “We want to emphasize the racial nature of the attack and that hate-crime charges are appropriate,” he told the Washington Post this week.