Baltimore girl, 15, shot dead by 9-year-old boy, playing with loaded gun

A 15-year-old girl was accidentally shot by a 9-year-old boy who was playing with a loaded gun, Baltimore police said Sunday.

The girl was playing on her porch Saturday night in the village of Edmondson in West Baltimore when she was shot in the head, police said. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The Baltimore Sun reports that police say the boy will not be criminally charged because of his age. The boy dropped the gun and fled after the shooting. Police said the gun was registered in the name of 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 years old.

“I want children to be safer. To put the guns away, get rid of those guns,” Strawder said between tears. “I lost my daughter; I will never be the same again. »

Officers responded to a report of a shooting around 8 p.m. Saturday and found the girl unconscious.