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Revelation that teen homicide victim was selling cocaine shocks loved ones, investigators

PITTSBURGH — News of an arrest in the shooting death of 17-year-old Daija McCall also revealed new details about the victim that blindsided those who knew her.

Police said the high school sophomore was trying to sell a half kilo of cocaine when she was shot and killed last month. Her classmate who is now charged in her death, Steven Cansler, allegedly acted as the middleman, authorities said.

RELATED: Teen arrested in daylight shooting of girl, 17, in Homewood; 2nd suspect sought

Pittsburgh Public Schools, which McCall attended as student, issued the following statement regarding the circumstances surrounding her death:

"In the Pittsburgh Public Schools, we are deeply saddened by the loss of any student. There is no information available that the alleged circumstances surrounding the loss of Daija McCall are tied to any district school. The circumstances are evident of a public safety problem and the impact street violence is  having on the community.
 
"We are communicating and cooperating with the city, the police and the district attorney regarding the impact street violence has on our students and school communities. Street violence doesn’t just happen in one area of the city, and it doesn’t always involve Pittsburgh Public Schools students."

YMCA Youth Development Director James Brown said McCall was talented and like many other children in the organization’s program, he said she was pulled in the wrong direction.

“When you lack resources, there are so many things that can pull you in the wrong direction,” he said.

Seasoned federal investigators are even in shock over the case.

“This is the exception to the rule,” Assistant Special Agent David Battiste of the Drug Enforcement Administration said.

Battiste said while he hasn’t worked on McCall’s case, he said the amount of drugs she’s accused of trying to sell was significant. He said normally, children are only found with a small amount, as in the case Thursday at Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Clayton Academy, where two students were charged after police said they found them in possession of a small amount of cocaine and non-narcotic pills.

RELATED: 2 PPS students facing charges after being accused of possessing cocaine, pills

“Kids are good at hiding things,” he said.

Battiste said the drugs come in from New Jersey, New York, Baltimore, Pennsylvania, Cleveland and Detroit.

“The children are not the ones bringing drugs into the communities, they're the distributors,” said Donald Giddens, a member of MAD DADS and a former law enforcement officer.

Giddens and fellow MAD DAD and former officer, Ted Johnson, believe there is a direct link between children and drugs and violence in the community.

“It's somehow acceptable, or that it's even allowed is the problem,” Giddens said.

Giddens and Johnson said they worry the tension will eventually spill over into the schools, and that's why they're hoping parents begin to take notice.

“We're looking for the community to help us take the community back,” Johnson said.

As for McCall’s case, police are still seeking a second suspect in connection with her death.