Lexington: The 15-year-old daughter of US Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay died on Sunday after being caught in an exchange of gunfire between two cars, police said.
Trinity Gay, 15, a rising track athlete, was shot in the neck in the parking lot of a restaurant near the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington about 4am on Sunday.
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Tyson Gay's teen daughter killed
Trinity Gay, the daughter of U.S. Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay, died on Sunday after being caught in an exchange of gunfire outside of a Kentucky restaurant.
She was taken in a private vehicle to the University of Kentucky Medical Centre, where she died, the coroner's office for Fayette County said.
On Sunday evening, police announced that Dvonta Middlebrooks, 21, was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
A statement said investigators determined that Middlebrooks was in the parking lot and fired multiple shots at the time of the incident.
Another man questioned by police has not been charged.
15-year-old daughter of Olympic runner Tyson Gay dies in shooting at Cook Out https://t.co/IFQQajq5UH
— Herald-Leader Sports (@KentuckySports) October 16, 2016
"She didn't make it. I'm so confused," Gay, 34, told the sports editor with NBC-affiliate Lex 18 television.
![American track star Tyson Gay.](/web/20170103081503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/3/o/d/p/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs3ocz.png/1476702158785.jpg)
"She was just here last week for fall break. It's so crazy."
Trinity was a rising star on the track team at Lafayette High School in Lexington, her father's alma mater, Sports Illustrated reported.
She dreamed of competing in the Olympics and becoming a surgeon, her mother, Shoshana Boyd, said.
"She was so innocent. She was so innocent," Boyd told the New York Daily News.
"I just want people to stop shooting and realise who they're hurting. It's just random. They don't understand. They don't understand who they're hurting."
Condolences from the track and field world poured in on social media.
"Sending our thoughts & prayers to @Tyson Gay & his loved ones as they mourn the tragic & senseless loss of his daughter, Trinity," USA Track and Field, the sport's national governing body, wrote on Twitter.
American Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones echoed the sentiment.
"Heavy heart today for Tyson Gay and his family," Jones, 34, wrote on Twitter.
"Lord please ease their pain and give them strength during this time."
Fayette County Public Schools, which runs Lafayette High School, wrote on Twitter, "Our hearts are broken this morning over the loss of Trinity to this tragic and senseless act of violence."
Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett tweeted that he was stunned.
"Shocked to hear of death of Trinity Gay. A life of such potential cut so tragically short. Sympathies to Tyson and entire family," he said.
Tyson Gay was born in Lexington and lives in a suburb of Orlando, Florida. He could not be reached for further comment.
He became a world sprint champion in 2007 and set the US 100-metres record two years later. He made his Olympic debut in 2008, and remains one of the all-time fastest runners.
Gay represented the US at the 2012 London Olympics, winning a silver medal with the 4x100 metres relay team but he lost the medal after testing positive for a banned substance in 2013.
Last summer's Games in Rio featured another stinging disappointment for Gay, who has battled injuries. He was a member of the American men's 4x100-metre relay team that finished third in the final before being disqualified for an illegal baton exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin. The team's appeal was denied, giving Canada the bronze medal.
Reuters, DPA, AP