Calling the death “horrifying and heartbreaking,” Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood issued a statement Wednesday asking for the public’s help in finding the killer of a 9-year-old girl who was shot in her sleep in an apparent drive-by shooting Tuesday morning.

Police responded to a home in the 1000 block of Rhett Drive just after 2 a.m. Tuesday. They arrived to find 9-year-old Cailee Knight suffering from an unknown number of gunshot wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, where she later died.

Knight had been asleep on a couch when unknown assailants fired multiple rounds into the home. Several other children were inside the home at the time, but there were no other injuries reported.

“It is horrifying and heartbreaking that a 9-year-old girl was shot and killed while she was asleep in her home,” Blackwood said. “Our children must be protected. The sanctity of our homes must be protected.”

James Barber, Chief of Staff for the City of Mobile, said during the city council meeting later Tuesday Knight was shot with an AR-15, according to WKRG. Barber also said the suspect(s) target was Knight’s 16-year-old brother.

“It’s the fact that a 9-year-old girl was killed this morning sitting on her sofa,” Barber said. “By somebody with an AR-15 rifle. That shouldn’t happen in our community. Children should be safe in their homes.”

Cailee Knight was a fourth-grader at Leinkauf Elementary, according to the girl’s grandmother, who spoke to WALA.

Blackwood asked anyone with information relative to shooting to contact the Mobile Police Department at 228-208-7211 or submit an anonymous tip by texting 844-251-0644 or via www.mobilepd.org/crimetip.

“My office stands ready to prosecute,” Blackwood said.