Teen who police say was accidentally shot dies day later

ATLANTA — A teenage girl who was shot in southeast Atlanta this week died Thursday night.

Channel 2 Action News first reported the shooting Wednesday night. It happened on Springside Drive Southeast.

The victim has been identified as 17-year-old Roberta Robinson by family.

Police called it an accident, but the victim's aunt told Channel 2's Michael Seiden she's not sure that's the case. Sonya Johnson said she dropped her niece off at a friend's house, then got a terrifying phone call about three hours later.

"Her mom asked me had I talked to Roberta. She heard she had got shot," Johnson said. “How could someone shoot an innocent child and then take off running?”

It's a question that's now the focus of a homicide investigation.

“She didn’t deserve it. She was looking for another job to better her life, get out there. She wanted to go back to school," Johnson said.

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Johnson said her niece was hanging out with a group of people when something went wrong.

"They were having words about a Netflix movie. What we was told, when her friend went back outside, she heard a gunshot,” Johnson said. “I’m going to miss yelling across my hallway, me telling Roberta, 'Bring me a bottle of water.'"

A spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department told Channel 2 Action News that detectives have identified a person of interest, but right now, no one is facing charges.

“She supposed to be here with us. She supposed to be here with us," Johnson said.

Seiden asked the victim's aunt about the person of interest, but she declined to comment. She told Seiden she didn’t want to talk about the person because it could jeopardize the investigation.

We will keep you posted on any new developments.

Cox Media Group