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Pre-K student who witnessed shootout, receives surprise tickets to Kings Dominion

Posted at 10:30 PM, Jun 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-13 23:30:46-04

RICHMOND, Va. -- A five-year-old Richmond pre-K student whose bus was caught in the middle of a gun battle on May 31 in Fairfield Court, received a huge surprise from CBS 6 anchor Reba Hollingsworth and CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit.

The two were touched by Aaliyah Payne’s story and decided to do something nice for her.

“We wanted to give her a day to just be a kid,” Hollingsworth said.

Melissa and Reba knocked on Aaliyah’s door after school and surprised her with tickets for her entire family to King’s Dominion, and a $300 gift card for the family to use while enjoying the amusement park.

Aaliyah said she had never been to King’s Dominion before and jumped up and down with joy before hugging Melissa and Reba.

Aaliyah’s mom, Ebony Witcher, choked back tears when Reba handed her the gift card.

Five-year-old Aaliyah Payne witnessed the gunfire while riding on the bus.

The pre-k student was riding her bus home from school when shots rang out as the bus headed up Rosetta Street toward her bus stop on 23rd Street.

Aaliyah Payne

Aaliyah Payne

"There was two guys shooting at each other," Aaliyah told Melissa the day after the shooting. "The bus driver was yelling tell us 'everybody duck everybody duck.'"

Richmond Police said two men were having a running gun battle and the bus got caught in the middle.

"I thought I was gonna get hurt, but I didn't, I was still alive," Aaliyah said.