A black man was arrested and charged with murder in the killing of a 7-year-old black girl in a drive-by shooting that authorities said Sunday appeared to be a case of mistaken identity, not a racially motivated attack, as her family feared.
Jazmine Barnes' family had described the gunman in the Dec. 30 slaying as a white man driving a red pickup and believed race played a role in the shooting.
But acting on a tip received by a civil rights activist, the sheriff's department zeroed in instead on Eric Black Jr., a 20-year-old black man who admitted he was driving a dark-colored SUV from which a passenger opened fire, authorities said.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said authorities have identified the second suspect, who is also black, but would not say whether the person was in custody.
Gonzalez cautioned that authorities were still investigating, but said: "At this point, it does not appear it was related to race."
