9-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Shot Dead by ATM Robbery VICTIM, Police Say

Arlene Alvarez was sitting in the back of her dad's truck with her family, en route to Spanky's Pizza for a Valentine's dinner, when a robbery took place outside a nearby bank — and bullets began to fly.

Arlene's dad shouted for everybody to get down; but his daughter, who was wearing headphones, was the only one who didn't.

The tragic incident happened at a drive-thru ATM on Woodridge Drive in Houston on Monday night; according to police, 41-year-old Tony D. Earls (pictured, right) was with his wife outside the bank when a man walked up to their vehicle and robbed them at gunpoint.

As the suspect fled on foot, investigators said Earls got out of his vehicle and fired at him, shooting at a truck he thought the thief had climbed into.

But that truck was carrying an innocent family of five who had been "simply driving" down a nearby street, Houston Executive Assistant Police Chief Matt Slinkard told AP.

"When we were getting shot at the first time, and I told them 'get down,' she was the only one who didn't get down. She didn't hear me," the girl's father Armando Alvarez said.

He said his first instinct had been to speed up to get away from the scene as soon as he heard the shots — until he made the horrific realization he was driving into the line of fire.

"As soon as I speed up, what are you doing? You are already coming next to him. You're going toward the guy shooting," the devastated father recalled. "So I guess when I speed up, he thought I was with that guy."

Arlene was struck in the head.

A witness described the scene to KHOU: "I could hear her talking real low to her dad and her dad was talking to her trying to comfort her," he said. "The mom was really, she was hysterical, she was basically just running around in circles around the dad and the daughter just looking up at the sky. It was pretty scary to see that."

Arlene was rushed to hospital in critical condition and placed on life support. But the next day, Houston PD made the heartbreaking confirmation she had died.

"I think she passed away yesterday, to be honest with you guys," her dad said. "As a dad, she passed away in my arms. Something not really to brag about or talk about but I saw her come in and I saw her leave, I can tell you that."

"I knew she was gone since last night. Soon as the bullet hit her head. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw everything."

According to police, Earls didn't even realize anyone had been hit, and left the scene. He didn't learn what had happened until he called to report the robbery later on.

He was arrested and initially charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; the Harris County District Attorney's Office said these charges may be upgraded since the girl's death.

The robber meanwhile remains at large. In many states, anyone involved in a crime in which a person is killed can be charged with murder — even if they didn't pull the trigger. TooFab has reached out to the District Attorney's office to inquire if this is a possibility.

Arlene is survived by her two little brothers, one of whom is only four months old.

"We just had our 4-month-old son," her dad said. "She always wanted to be there to change his diapers. She was a mom. She was trying so hard to be a mom."

Assistant Chief Slinkard described the incident as "an unbelievably tragic event."

"It just goes to show, anytime that there's guns involved, the danger to innocent bystanders is extremely high," he said.