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 West to deal with the financial burden of a funeral while grieving for the sixth grader, who died at a hospital March 8.
“No parent should ever have to bury their child, O'Neal said in a statement, "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.
This story corrects the name of the girl who died to Jada West.
FILE - Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal speaks at a press conference in McDonough, Ga., Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, after being named Henry County Sheriff's Office Director of Community Relations by Henry County Sheriff Reginald Scandrett. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
A paper sign left in memory of Jada West stands in her neighborhood in Villa Rica, Ga., Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas on Wednesday killed seven presumed drug traffickers, including a gang chief, as well as a local resident caught in the crossfire, law enforcement officials said.
Claúdio Augusto dos Santos, a drug-trafficking boss and member of the notorious Red Command criminal organization, was among those killed in the operation in central Rio, Secretary of the Military Police Col. Marcelo de Menezes said in a press conference.
In retaliation, police said “criminals” set fire to a bus and blocked roads in Rio’s central zone. Some attempted to steal bus keys to use the vehicles to block the roads. Five people were arrested for acts of vandalism, police said.
Márcio Sousa, the driver of the bus set alight, reported that the attackers boarded the vehicle with two bottles of gasoline.
“It all happened very fast,” Sousa told The Associated Press during an interview. “There is no security. Rio de Janeiro is like this — it is not for amateurs.”
Police set up the massive raid after localizing dos Santos using intelligence, de Menezes said.
Some 150 military police officers were involved in the operation which targeted the sprawling urban communities of Prazeres, Fallet, Fogueteiro, Coroa, Escondidinho and Paula Ramos, according to the military police on X, who also said that weapons including rifles, pistols and revolvers were seized.
Dos Santos, the leader of drug-trafficking in Prazeres favela, was injured during confrontations, police said in a statement. He was taken to nearby hospital but did not survive his injuries, police said, adding that a woman who was with dos Santos was also hit and taken to the same health unit.
Police said there were approximately 10 outstanding arrest warrants targeting dos Santos, who had 135 entries on his criminal record. Authorities said he was also involved in the murder of Italian tourist Roberto Bardella, 52, in December 2016, who had entered the neighborhood by mistake with his cousin.
Dos Santos also led the criminal group that carried out a shooting attack on the city hall building in 2011, police said.
Police also reported a local couple was taken hostage and the man was killed in the shootout that ensued. The woman was rescued. Two police officers were also injured during the operation.
Military police personnel will remain in the area indefinitely to ensure security and guarantee freedom of movement, Menezes said, who referred to drug traffickers as “ narco-terrorists ” – a term used by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Last year, a huge raid against Red Command resulted in more than 120 deaths in Penha and Complexo de Alemao favelas, the most lethal in Rio’s history. The death toll sparked protests and calls for Gov. Cláudio Castro’s resignation.
Wednesday's operation also generated criticism, including by left-wing state lawmaker Renata Souza.
“Another day of panic and fear in Rio de Janeiro,” Souza said on X. “This is Governor Cláudio Castro’s policy of public insecurity, without planning and or intelligence” that fails to produce concrete results and “produces death,” she said.
Separately, also on Wednesday, a specialized task force launched a nationwide operation across 15 Brazilian states to fight criminal organizations, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering and other crimes, federal police said in a statement.
Authorities said some 115 arrest warrants were being carried out.
Red Command has more than doubled its presence since 2023 and criminal gangs are now active in nearly half of the Brazilian Amazon’s municipalities. A mega police operation targeting the PCC and its money laundering scheme involving investment funds and the fuel sector last August illustrated the depth of the criminal organization's infiltration in the country's financial system.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Firefighters work to extinguish a bus fire that was set ablaze by drug traffickers during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Military police patrol during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Military police patrol during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
