BALTIMORE — A 15-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed by a 9-year-old boy who was playing with a loaded gun, Baltimore police said Sunday.
The girl was playing on her front porch Saturday night in West Baltimore’s Edmondson Village when she was shot in the head, police said. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The Baltimore Sun reports that police said the boy will not be criminally charged because of his age. The boy dropped the gun and fled the scene after the shooting. Police said the gun is registered to a woman who is a relative of the boy and works as an armed security guard.
On Sunday, the girl’s mother, Nykerah Strawder, identified her as 15-year-old Nykayla Strawder. Police previously said the girl was 14.
“I want children to be more safe. To put the guns away, get rid of these guns,” Strawder said between tears. “I lost my daughter; I’ll never be the same.”
Officers responded to a report of a shooting at about 8 p.m. Saturday and found the girl unresponsive.