A 7-month-old baby girl is dead after a 10-year-old boy found a loaded gun hidden under a mattress inside a St. Louis home and fired it, striking the infant in the head, police say.
Officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded just after 4 p.m. Friday to a residence in the 8400 block of North Broadway after reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found baby Kiyomi Parker with a gunshot wound to the head.
With no time to wait for an ambulance, officers placed Kiyomi directly into a police cruiser and rushed her to the nearest hospital. Doctors later pronounced her dead.
Investigators say the 10-year-old boy knew the gun was stored under the mattress in a bedroom — and that he had taken it out to play with on at least one prior occasion. On Friday, he allegedly pulled it out again. This time, he shot Kiyomi in the head.
A 7-year-old child was also inside the home at the time of the shooting.
The gun’s owner, Ca’Marion Pawnell, 19, was arrested and is now facing charges of second-degree murder, first-degree child endangerment resulting in death, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. In an interview with detectives, Pawnell admitted he owned the firearm and confirmed he had stored it under the bed.
The 10-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder in juvenile court. Under Missouri law, only juveniles over the age of 12 can be tried as adults. Police have not released his name.
Homicide and child abuse detectives are conducting a joint investigation into the incident.
Pawnell was booked at the St. Louis City Justice Center. His next court date has not yet been scheduled.
The relationship between the boy and baby Kiyomi has not been disclosed by authorities.
