TOUCHING

Shaquille O’Neal, Police Officer Pay for Jazmine Barnes' Funeral

The basketball legend and a Houston police officer teamed up to cover the funeral costs of the slain 7-year-old.

Shaquille O’Neal and a Houston police officer have reportedly teamed up to pay for the funeral costs of Jazmine Barnes, a 7-year-old girl who was killed in a drive-by shooting in late December. According to local news station KPRC2, O’Neal and Houston Senior Police Officer Kenneth Miles gave a cashier’s check to cover the costs of Barnes’s funeral next week. “I just wanted to keep the pain away, trying to raise money and pay for the funeral because funerals can be quite expensive,” O'Neal said. Miles, who is reportedly friends with O'Neal, said Barnes’ story touched him “deeply” and he wanted to “just ease the pain” of the family by covering their funeral costs. Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins also expressed support for Barnes’ family on Thursday, tweeting that he would be donating his check from Saturday’s playoff game to help Barnes’ family. “I have a 5-year-old daughter, man, so it could have been anybody in that position,” Hopkins told the station.

JUSTICE FOR JAZMINE

Jazmine Barnes: What We Know About the 7-Year-Old’s Slaying

Pilar Melendez