03/18/26 01:32:00
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03/18 13:31 CDT Shaq O'Neal offering to pay for the funeral of Georgia girl,
12, who died after a fight
Shaq O'Neal offering to pay for the funeral of Georgia girl, 12, who died after
a fight
VILLA RICA, Ga. (AP) --- Shaquille O'Neal is offering to pay for the funeral of
a 12-year-old Georgia girl who died a few days after she collapsed following a
fight after school.
The former NBA superstar said he doesn't want the family of Jada Smith to deal
with the financial burden of a funeral while grieving for the sixth grader, who
died at a hospital March 8.
"As a father, my heart goes out to Jayda's family," O'Neal said in a statement.
"No parent should ever have to bury their child, and if there is anything I can
do to ease even a small part of that burden, then it is the right thing to do."
O'Neal's offer was announced in a joint news release by the sheriff of Douglas
County, where the fight occurred, and the sheriff of Henry County, where O'Neal
owns a home and holds a position as the sheriff's community relations chief.
Both counties are in the Atlanta suburbs.
The girl's death is being investigated by police in Villa Rica, about 30 miles
(50 kilometers) west of Atlanta. Police say Jada got into a fistfight with
another girl near a neighborhood bus stop where they had been dropped off after
school on March 5. She died at a hospital three days later.
Sgt. Spencer Crawford, a police spokesman, has said investigators were
reviewing cellphone video of the fight posted to social media that shows Jada
and another girl approach each other and begin throwing punches after the
school bus leaves. The video shows the girls fall to the ground before an adult
intervenes. It ends as Jada picks up her backpack and begins to walk away.
She never made it home. Sgt. Spencer Crawford, a police spokesman, has said
emergency responders were dispatched on a report of "a young juvenile who was
in cardiac arrest laying in the street."
Results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death have not been released.
One of the girl's aunts, Lindsey McClendon Pettiford, said in a social media
post that Jada's funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
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