9-Year-Old Killed By Man Being Robbed In A Case Of Mistaken Identity: Police

The parents of a 9-year-old Texas girl are speaking out after their daughter was fatally shot by a robbery victim who allegedly thought he was shooting at the suspect who robbed him.

Arlene Alvarez was sitting in the backseat of her parents' car and wearing headphones to watch a movie on the way to a Houston restaurant for dinner on Feb. 14 when she was allegedly shot by 41-year-old Tony D. Earls in an apparent case of mistaken identity, KHOU reported, citing Houston police.

Earls is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Houston Police Department. It is not clear if he has a lawyer.

During an emotional press conference Wednesday, the girl's father, Armando Alvarez, said he had made a stop at the drive-thru ATM of a Chase Bank on Woodridge Drivethat day and witnessed a robbery underway, CNN reported.

When gunfire rang out, Armando told his family to take cover, but his daughter didn't hear his warning. Arlene was shot in the head and died at a hospital the following day from critical injuries.

"Duck down, Arlene," Gwen Alvarez, the girl's mother, recalled of the moments before her daughter was shot. "I didn't scream loud enough. I didn't know she had her earphones on."

Houston police said Earls was unaware that he had struck someone and left the scene to report the robbery to police, KHOU reported.

Earls opened fire at a suspect who robbed him at gunpoint at the drive-up ATM, police said. The suspect fled the scene, but Earls then fired at a vehicle that he mistakenly believed belonged to the man who robbed him, according to authorities.

The girl's father said he watched his child "go down immediately" after being struck in the head. Arlene's two younger siblings were also inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting.

"I immediately stopped, pulled her out of the vehicle," Armando said during the press conference. "I hope nobody ever has to go through this."

The Alvarez family's attorney, Rick Ramos, said Earls does not have a valid case for self-defense because there was no "immediate threat or fear" for his safety when he opened fire as the robbery suspect had already fled the scene.

"At that point in time, you lose your right to self-defense," the lawyer added.

The robbery suspect has not yet been identified and remains at large, according to Houston Police Executive Chief Matt Slinkard.

"Anytime that [there are] guns involved, the danger to innocent bystanders is extremely high," Slinkard said.

Arlene's mother said she was told that her daughter was brain dead as a result of her injuries.

The family's lawyer said at the press conference that the fourth-grader was an "old soul" who took care of her two younger brothers.

"We just had our 4-month-old son," the girl's father told KHOU. "She always wanted to be there to change his diapers. She was a mom."