A child killed in the Tucson shooting Saturday was related to former Phillies manager Dallas Green.
Christina-Taylor Green was fatally shot on Saturday while trying to meet Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) at an informal political meeting in Tucson, Ariz.
A statement from Dallas Green on the tragic death of his granddaughter appears on the Phillies website:
"This is a such a tough time for Syliva and I and for John and Roxanna and little Dallas. We thank everybody from the bottom of our hearts for their friendship, thoughts and prayers, especially the Phillies and our extended family in baseball. Somehow we will get through this, but right now our little nine-year-old granddaughter is not here and we're having a hard time with that."
According to her father, John Green, Christina-Taylor was interested in dancing in sports. He told the Arizona Star that she was the only girl on a Little League team in Canyon Del Oro.
Her grandfather, Dallas Green, was a Major League pitcher and a manager. He led the Phillies' when they won the 1980 World Series and currently serves as Senior Adviser to the General Manager.
The Phils released the following statement:
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"The Phillies organization expresses our heartfelt condolences to Dallas and Sylvia and the entire Green family on the senseless, tragic loss of Christina's life. She was a talented young girl with a bright promising future. Her untimely death weighs heavily on our hearts. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families affected by yesterday's horrific shooting."
"She kept up with everyone, she was a strong girl, a very good athlete and a strong swimmer," her mother Roxanna Green told the Arizona Star. "She was interested in everything. She got a guitar for Christmas so her next thing was learning to play guitar."
Christina-Taylor had gone to the meeting on Saturday with the hopes of meeting Rep. Giffords. The 9-year-old was recently elected to the student council at the Mesa Verde Elementary School, her father said, and was interested in politics.
In a sad irony, Christina-Taylor was born just hours after the tragic events that took on September 11, 2001.
"It's so tragic," her mother told the Arizona Star. "She went to learn today and then someone with so much hatred in their heart took the lives of innocent people."
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter has ordered all city flags to be flown at half-staff for one week beginning Monday in memory of the victims of the tragic shooting in Arizona.
