14 DAY TRIAL // An 11-year-old girl from Philadelphia was fatally shot by her 2-year-old brother on Saturday, after they were left unsupervised and played with a gun they had found in the house.
According to the Mirror, young Jamara Stevens was playing with her siblings in their home in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, when her younger brother accidentally fired a .357 caliber handgun with an 8-inch (20-cm) barrel and killed her.
The girl was reportedly hit in the arm, but the bullet passed through her chest and struck her heart. She was quickly taken to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, but was pronounced dead soon after arriving there. The toddler who discharged the weapon was found with a burn and traces of gun powder on his arm.
Police says the children's mother, Tiffany Goldwire, went to use the bathroom when the tragic incident happened, and the kids found the weapon on top of the refrigerator. They took the firearm to play with it, believing it to be a toy. It is thought the gun was left there by Goldwire's boyfriend, who had been at the house a few hours earlier.
However, authorities have not determined yet who the handgun belongs to. The firearm was discovered on a bed inside the house when police arrived at the scene. Officers who investigated the case determined the 2-year-old boy pulled the trigger after finding gun powder residue on his fingers.
Following the incident, the woman and her three surviving kids, aged 14, 7 and 2, were taken to a local police station, where she was reportedly questioned for nearly five hours.
Yesterday, the grieving mother was sitting at her home on the 3800 block of Wallace Street surrounded by family and friends, and wanted to send a message to other mothers.
“For all the mothers who lose their kids, I feel their pain. And to the ones that still have their children, treasure every moment with your kids because you never know when you'll never see them again,” she said, as cited by NBC Philadelphia.
“I'm never gonna see my child again. This is a hard pill to swallow,” the visibly distraught woman added.
Goldwire also mentions that she is now struggling to cover the cost of the funeral and is willing to accept any help she can get.
Currently, homicide detectives continue to investigate the incident, and no charges have been filed so far.