Who is Shanice Marie? Ma'Khia Bryant's alleged sister says teen had knife as 'she was trying to protect herself'
An individual who identified herself as Ma'Khia Bryant’s sister spoke out in a Facebook Live last week after police shot and killed the 16-year-old during a confrontation on April 20 after getting into an altercation with someone else from her foster home in Columbus, Ohio, moments before her death. The alleged sibling of Ma'Khia stressed the fact that the teen had a knife because was “trying to protect herself.”
Police said the shooting occurred after officers responded to a 911 call about an attempted stabbing. Body camera footage released by police late Tuesday showed officers pulling up to a chaotic scene where three girls appeared to be in the midst of a brawl. Within just a few seconds, as one of the girls involved in the fight can be seen wielding a knife as she lunges toward another girl, an officer, later identified as Nicholas Reardon, yells, “Get down! Get down!” and then fires his weapon several times. A man yells, “She’s just a f**king kid, man!” The teen was transported to a nearby hospital, Mount Carmel East, but died of her injuries. The department has contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to review the officer’s use of deadly force.
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Who is Shanice Marie?
Cedes Mercedes, who shared the recorded live stream of Ma'Khia's alleged sister on Facebook, wrote that “you can hear the pain in her voice on LIVE as she’s explaining what got us all here.” Mercedes also called out the Columbus Division of Police, saying that officers “FAILED that little girl.”
The Facebook Live video was initially posted by Ma'Khia's alleged sister, Shanice Marie, where Shanice spoke about the teen's attempt to “protect herself.” The video included a couple of minutes of audio but no faces were visible. Mercedes confirmed to Daily Dot that the voice in the video belongs to Shanice Marie.
According to Daily Dot, a photo published by Columbus Dispatch shows a Shanice Washington talking to a crowd after police killed Ma'Khia. However, there was no way to know whether that Shanice was the same as the one claiming to be Ma'Khia's sister. Public records do indicate that Shanice M. Washington is 27. But she did not live with Ma'Khia's foster family.
'I just lost my motherf**king sister'
In the video, Bryant’s alleged sister said, “I just lost my motherf**king sister and y’all are on this b***h playing around. She had a knife. Because she was trying to protect herself… from a grown-a** motherf**king woman.” Shanice blamed Ma'Khia's foster parent for “starting s**t with” her and her sister. As per Shanice, Ma'Khia's younger sister called the police, asking the police to come claiming that the girls were “trying to fight” them. The reason behind Ma'Khia's 15-year-old sister Jania dialing 911 was because they did not want their father getting involved in the scenario. But “nobody never comes … so they call my dad," Shanice said.
Shanice went onto explain that the people Ma'Khia lived with called her and her sister “all types of names.” Shanice said that her sister was “so motherf**king loveable.” In conclusion, she added, "My baby was 16 years old, this b***h is 28, 29 years old. You bringing other b***hes over there trying to fight her and she called the police. You are the same mother f**kers who are supposed to protect. What the f**k did y’all protect?"