On Saturday, DeAndre Hopkins won't just be playing for chance to advance his AFC South Champion Houston Texans to the Divisional Round. He will also be playing in honor of seven-year-old Jazmine Barnes, killed in a drive-by shooting in Houston.
"I have a five-year-old daughter so that could have been anybody in that position on this team," Hopkins said. "It could have been anybody who is in this city so it's just unfortunate."
Hopkins will be donating his game check from the Texans AFC Wild Card game against the Indianapolis Colts to help pay for the little girl's funeral costs and finding the killer. Civil rights activist Shaun King has also offered a six-figure reward for any leads to pass along to authorities.
"I felt in my heart, it's only right to give back to those who are down," Hopkins said. "Man, it's a tough situation for that to happen. It's tough. What I can do –that's nothing. That won't bring back a person so you know, I'm not trying to make it all about me or anything like that, but it's the least I could do."
On Sunday morning, an unidentified gunman pulled up to the Barnes family's car and suddenly began firing. The seven-year-old died in the backseat while riding with her mother and three sisters. Despite a widespread manhunt to find the killer, he is still at large.
