When officer Jeronimo Yanez shot and killed Philando Castile in 2016 in Minnesota, his girlfriend was in the passenger's seat of the car he was driving and her four-year-old daughter Dae'Anna Reynolds was in the back seat. After the shooting Dae'Anna and her mother, Diamond, were detained in the back seat of a police cruiser, video of which was released after the acquittal of Yanez. She can be seen wrapping her arms around her mom and saying, "I can keep you safe. I don't want you to get shooted." She has been since called the "bravest girl in the world" by the Daily Beast.
Now, nearly a year after Dae Dae — as Dae'Anna is called — spoke those words to her grieving mother, a fundraiser has been started in her honor to help send her to college someday. The fund, started June 23, exceeded its $10,000 goal in the first week, and now continues to grow.
"I'm a mom of two, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about this baby. I've felt helpless wondering what will happen to her," The YouCaring page, organized by Maggie Mason, says. "Philando and Diamond, Dae Dae's mom, weren't married. There were funds raised to support immediate needs for both the Castile and Reynolds families, but I looked everywhere for a scholarship specifically for Dae-Dae and couldn't find one. With the help of some friends, we contacted her family and looked into the legalities surrounding how to set this up."
The money raised will go into a trust that Dae Dae can't access until she's ready to go to college, when the money can be used to help cover those costs. This, Dae Dae's grandmother, Dafina Doty, told Teen Vogue that the effort will hopefully help the young girl's future.
"It was an awesome gesture for someone to think of her and start this fund," Doty said. "I think Dae'anna will be able to use the funds for what path she chooses in the future."
If you want to donate, head here.