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Police have arrested a 19-year-old man for the fatal shooting of an eight-year-old Texas girl following a traffic accident last weekend.

The girl's mother told police she had been driving home with her daughter when their car collided with another vehicle racing with a third car.

Someone in one of the speeding vehicles allegedly began shooting and DeMaree Atkins was killed.

Houston police say Latoyia Thomas and her daughter were innocent victims.

Art Acevedo, the city police chief, said "when someone kills an eight-year-old little girl everyone needs to worry".

The killing happened as Ms Thomas was driving home with her daughter at 02:00 last Saturday following a hair appointment, said police.

Ms Thomas said she thought the attacker had been going to offer help following the collision.

But instead the suspect rolled down the window and fired about five to seven shots before driving away, she said.

"I pulled her [DeMaree] out of the car," Ms Thomas told ABC News. "I didn't even know she had been hit. I thought she was still asleep."

Houston police said they were withholding the name of the man in custody pending charges.