Three individuals ― Deckyse Bridges, 16, Resean Patterson, 18, and Dahviere Griswold, 20 ― were arraigned Tuesday on second-degree murder charges in connection with the shooting death of 11-year-old Brexialee Torres-Ortiz in January.

They pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said the defendants had exited out of a vehicle and started shooting at an individual, but ended up killing Brexialee, a sixth-grade student at Syracuse STEM at Blodgett.

She is not believed to have been the intended target, according to police.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said Brexialee was an innocent "promising star."

"Quite frankly, in many homicide cases, you can point to something that the victim did that contributed to his or her death, rightfully or wrongfully. But this was a child trying to help her mother and grandmother not to go out on a cold night, went out to get a carton of milk and came home dead," Fitzpatrick said.

The defendants are scheduled for a next court hearing on June 8.