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Case dismissed in drive-by shooting of birthday girl

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a case filed against a 20-year-old man accused in a drive-by shooting of a 6-year-old girl celebrating her birthday in Omaha.

Prosecutor Jim Masteller told the Omaha World-Herald that witnesses stopped cooperating, so he had no choice last week but to move for dismissing the case filed against Willie Strickland. Strickland had been charged with a felony: intentional discharge of a firearm. Investigators say Strickland fired into an Omaha home on June 5 and hit the girl in the face.

Masteller noted that Strickland's sister, 27-year-old Colleen Strickland, is accused of threatening one of the witnesses. Court records say she's pleaded not guilty to a charge of terroristic threats.

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