Tyson Gay's daughter shot dead: Three men arrested after Olympic sprinter's teenage child killed

Trinity Gay, a 15-year-old promising athlete, was fatally shot in Kentucky

Three men have been arrested in connection with the death of Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay’s 15-year-old daughter.

Trinity Gay, a talented young hopeful on the track team, was fatally shot in the neck while eating at a Cook Out branch in Lexington, Kentucky on Sunday.

The Fayette County Coroner said she died of her injuries on Sunday just before 5am.

Lexington police have charged Dvonta Middlebrooks, 21, with wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Chazerae M Taylor, 38, and D’markeo C Taylor, 19, who are father and son, are each charged with wanton endangerment.

Another man has been questioned by police but not charged. The investigation remains ongoing.

Trinity died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, the coroner's office for Fayette County said in a statement. Police say she was hit in the neck during an exchange of fire between two vehicles in a restaurant car park.

Gay flew from his home just outside Orlando, Florida, to Lexington on Sunday and expressed his shock at the news to local channel LEX18: “She didn’t make it. I’m so confused.”

“She was just here last week for fall break. It’s so crazy. I have no idea what happened”.

“She was so innocent, she was so innocent,” her mother, Shoshana Boyd, told New York Daily News as she broke down in an interview.

“I just want people to stop shooting and realise who they’re hurting. It’s just random. They don’t understand, they don’t understand who they’re hurting.”

US athlete Tyson Gay and his daughter Trinity Gay who was shot dead (Facebook)

Commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletics Association, Julian Tackett, expressed his shock at the news.

“Shocked to hear of death of Trinity Gay. A life of such potential cut so tragically short. Sympathies to Tyson and entire family,” he wrote on Twitter.

Many have paid tribute to Trinity on social media and sent their condolences to the family.