Surrounded by flowers, balloons, and a photograph of her favorite characters from “Frozen,” the body of 6-year-old Aniya Allen laid in a tiny pink casket at the front of Shiloh Temple International Ministries in North Minneapolis. Hundreds of family and friends filled the church for her “Home-going” service.
Shiloh Temple hosted the funeral of Allen, who was shot in the back seat of her family’s car while driving through Minneapolis on Monday, May 17. Shiloh Temple also hosted two visitations for Allen on Tuesday, June 1, before her funeral service on Wednesday, June 2.
Loved ones released balloons for Allen that read “I love you, Aniya,” and her casket procession went down Broadway to Lakewood Cemetary by horse-drawn carriage.
Allen is the granddaughter of activist K.G. Wilson, who has been outspoken about justice for his granddaughter’s murder.
"I’m saying to you right now. I’m begging you. Turn yourself in. You killed a baby. If it was an accident, turn yourself in," Wilson said at a press conference following her shooting. "Find it in your heart. You can’t be that heartless."
Wilson also spoke at her funeral.
“We’re going to get justice,” he said.
Richard Powell, the bishop at Shiloh Temple, delivered the eulogy for Allen, the oldest of five children.
“We all lost a little girl,” Powell said. “She was little in stature but big in life.
“She was one who never wanted to rush into adulthood but danced and jumped, smiled and laughed and enjoyed life in the water and on land.”
Allen is one of three children to be a victim of gun violence in the past several months in Minneapolis. Minneapolis Police have said that all three shootings are gang-related. No arrests have been made in connection to Allen’s shooting.
Allen died from her injuries in the hospital just a few days after she was shot. In addition, 10-year-old Ladavionne Garrett Jr. was also shot while in the backseat of his family’s vehicle is still in the hospital attempting to make a recovery. The third child shot, 9-year-old Trinity Ottoson-Smith, died after being shot in the head while playing on the trampoline.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke up following the death of Ottoson-Smith.
Now Frey and other Minneapolis leaders are pushing a new plan to address violent crime, invest in prevention, intervention, and enforcement strategies, and a commitment to "community-led work and deeper partnerships to address root causes of crime."
"Gun violence is traumatizing our neighborhoods across our city, including and especially right here in north Minneapolis," Mayor Jacob Frey said at a press conference in May.
There is currently a $30,000 reward for information in the cases involving the shooting of the three children from Minneapolis.