5-year-old girl is shot and killed in Florida City, deputies say

A 5-year-old girl was shot and killed in Florida City on Wednesday morning, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.

Florida City police officers were first to respond to reports of a shooting at 1452 NW First Court, where they found Ja’Nova Parks with a gunshot wound to her torso just before 2 a.m.

Ja’Nova and her mother were driven by officers to Homestead Baptist Hospital, where Miami-Dade Fire Rescue then airlifted the girl to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where she died, according to MDSO, which has taken over the investigation.

Three adults, including Ja’Nova’s mother, were inside the home when the girl was shot, deputies say. The girl’s 4-year-old brother was also home.

Miami-Dade County jail records show that Ja’Nova’s mother, Ashley Hosendove, 32, was arrested Wednesday on an unrelated disorderly-conduct charge for an incident that happened in March.

Hosendove was the victim of a battery allegedly committed by her boyfriend, according to an arrest affidavit. But she refused to provide identification to police and began to “shout and scream profanities” toward officers,” the report reads. She remains locked up at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $1,500 bond.

“My granddaughter was smart. She was sassy, and she’ll tell you how she feels. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it. At 5, we always knew she was so smart for her age,” Ja’Nova’s grandmother Latisha Ellison told Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.

Deputies are working to determine how the girl was shot, but say they are not looking for anyone that “may pose a threat to the community.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 8:23 AM.