An 8-year-old Houston girl is dead and her alleged killer is on the loose after an apparent road rage incident at an intersection in the Texas city.

According to ABC News, Toya Thomas was driving with her daughter De’Maree Adkins in the backseat when her car collided with another vehicle. Moments later someone fired shots into the car, hitting the sleeping 8-year-old.

“She never even knew what happened,” Thomas told ABC News.

The little girl was taken to the hospital but did not survive.

Thomas told ABC News that she crossed an intersection just as a green light turned yellow, and noticed a car coming towards her moving at a very high speed.  She was unable to stop in time, and the cars collided. She said she then noticed another car pull up next to her, and a woman with a gun started shooting in to Thomas’s car.

Police told the news station they are searching for a dark-colored, four-door sedan that fled the shooting scene. While police have not yet specified a motive, Thomas told ABC News she thought it had to be road rage.

“My daughter was innocent, she didn’t deserve it,” Thomas said. “I can’t watch her grow up.”

De’Maree was a third grade honors student and loved to play the violin.

Police told ABC News they are studying the traffic cameras at the intersection for clues.