A Girl Has Become The Younest Person To Die From The Coronavirus

A 9-year old girl died in her sleep earlier this month due to the coronavirus, making her the youngest COVID-19-related fatality in Florida.

According to Essence.com, Kimora Lynum, who was described by her parents as being healthy with no preexisting conditions that would put her at risk, died July 17. Now Lynum’s parents want to make sure other parents in Florida and beyond are aware the coronavirus can have devastating effects.

“It hit home, and I think a lot of people out here are not understanding that we have to take this thing seriously,” family spokesperson Dejeon Cain told First Coast News. “We cannot send our kids to school in the midst of a pandemic, and use them as a pawn. We’ve lost compassion in our state and local governments.”

“She was doing good at one point, and all of a sudden she had a situation with a fever,” Cain said.

Lynum’s family was already mourning the death of Kimora’s father, Theophilus Lynum, who was shot and killed earlier this year. The investigation into his death is ongoing.

There are more than 440,000 coronavirus cases in the state of Florida; more than 6,100 people have succumbed to the illness. The state broke its own record for the most deaths in a day related to the coronavirus Tuesday with 186.