Yahoo Sports is reporting that one of the nation's top female high school basketball recruits has been killed. Tayshana Murphy, 18, was killed in her New York City housing project in what friends are calling a case of mistaken identity.

Murphy was shot and killed in Harlem's Grant Houses housing project after attempting to run from an assailant who pulled a gun on her. Murphy had been wearing the same hooded sweatshirt as another another man who had been in a fight with the assailant. It is being reported that Murphy begged for her life before being shot down.

Murphy, a 5-foot-6 senior at Murry Bergtraum High School, was considered one of the top guard prospects in the nation and had received recruiting interest from a variety of collegiate programs. The teen planned to use her basketball talents to improve her future and help her family leave the projects that eventually claimed her life.

The New York Times is reporting that police arrested a person in connection with the case, Terique Collins, 24. Collins is being held on charges of criminal possession of a weapon. It is believed that he handed the gun to two other people: Robert Cartagena, 20, and Tyshawn Brockington, 21, one of whom is believed to be the shooter. The exchange was caught on video in the Grant Houses. Police are still seeking the whereabouts of Cartagena and Brockington.

How sad is it that this young woman's life was cut short over nothing? If it is a case of mistaken identity, then why did the assailant shoot her after she announced that he had the wrong person? Why kill someone, anyway, over a fight? It just makes no sense that one of the nation's top recruits was wiped out over some foolishness. And if Murphy was one of the nation's top recruits, then why hasn't this story made national news?

Read more at Yahoo Sports.

In other news: Obama Increases Number of Women, Minority Judges.

Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.