The sister of an Alabama teen accused of fatally shooting a classmate on campus Wednesday posted a lighthearted selfie, complete with flowery Snapchat photo filter, of her and her brother after he was released on bail Friday afternoon.
The photo was posted by Makiya Barber, who identified herself as the sister of Michael Jerome Barber, the Huffman High School junior charged Friday with manslaughter in the death of Courtlin La'Shawn Arrington. Both Arrington and Michael Barber were 17.
Michael Barber, who also faces a gun charge for allegedly bringing the pistol onto the Birmingham high school's campus, was booked earlier Friday, with bail set at $75,300.
[The social media post was made private after the publication of this article.]
"Out the big ole gate!" Makiya Barber wrote in the caption of the photo. "Y'all can stop the fake friend request(s) now. God still gotta plan for the kid!"
In the selfie, it appears that Makiya Barber is seated in the front passenger seat of a vehicle, her brother stretched out in the backseat. Police officials said that Michael Barber suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg in the shooting, which took place around 3:45 p.m. Wednesday as students were dismissed for the day.
The siblings mug for the camera in the photo. Digitally added flower crowns sit on their heads.
Makiya Barber’s friends were jovial, expressing gratitude that her teen brother was out of jail.
“Y’all get him some real food,” one woman wrote.
"He got his fav, McDonald's, lol (laugh out loud)," Makiya Barber responded.
A young man asked about Mike Barber’s injury.
“His leg OK? Can he still make it out the bay with football?” he asked.
Credit: (Facebook)
Credit: (Facebook)
Michael Barber, a junior at Huffman, plays wide receiver for the Huffman Vikings. His status as a student was not clear Friday, though Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring spoke Wednesday night about losing two of the city's students, Arrington to a bullet and Barber to the consequences of the shooting.
Makiya Barber responded that she didn’t know her brother’s outlook in football yet, but that the teen’s leg was in pain.
AL.com, whose reporters talked to Arrington's family, reported that the bullet that struck the senior and aspiring nurse pierced her heart and exited through her back. Though CPR was begun at the school and was continued as she was rushed to UAB Hospital, Arrington was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the shooting.
In previous posts about the shooting, Makiya Barber argued that the shooting that killed Arrington was an accident.
"And what y'all NOT about to do is make my brother out to be this horrible unparented child," she wrote in one post. "All the he say, she say ... we have the facts! Rest in peace, baby girl, and my brother is gonna come out stronger and wiser."
[The social media post was made private after the publication of this article.]
Another post pointed out the fact that detectives have footage of the shooting.
“The police have footage and facts, so the countdown to see my brother is on! Mike Mike, I know you hungry!”
The post included several hashtags, including one offering prayers for the Arrington family and one that stated, “Everything for a reason.”
Police have not released a possible motive for the shooting, but investigators’ initial thoughts about the shooting possibly being accidental were dashed after they viewed camera footage of the shooting. The source of the video footage has not been made public.
Arrington's family told AL.com in Birmingham that the pair never dated and that they have no idea what brought on the shooting.
“She didn’t know him,” Arrington’s mother, Tyeasha Tatum, told the news site.
Arrington, who was due to graduate in two months, had already been accepted into college, where she planned to study nursing. Her Facebook page, which has since been turned into a memorial page, includes an introduction that reads, "SEN18R. Dream come true, gotta chase it. Future RN."
Her last photo that she posted of herself appeared to be taken in the hallway of the school. It was posted the day before she was killed.
Her photos also include images of her wearing scrubs.
Tatum told AL.com that her daughter's two siblings were at the school when the shooting occurred. Tamera Tatum, a 19-year-old senior, was already on the bus to head home and Gera'Micah Tatum, 16, was about to join her.
One of Courtlin Arrington’s friends called her mother and told her about the shooting, Tatum said. She initially hurried to Huffman, but learned her daughter was already at the hospital.
When Tatum finally saw her, it was to identify her body. Tatum, who said she would jump in her daughter’s bed each morning and “kiss on her face,” was not allowed to touch her during the identification.
The family is now preparing a funeral for Arrington, which will be held on March 24, the same weekend as the prom the teen was so looking forward to.
"Her father had just ordered her prom dress online," Courtlin's grandfather, Zach Arrington, told AL.com, "and she didn't even know it yet."
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