Two young cousins seen playing with a gun on Instagram Live died by gunshot wounds that the family says was an accident.
Two young cousins in Missouri were shot to death on Instagram Live while playing with a gun during a family party.
Paris Harvey, a 12-year-old girl, shot 14-year-old Kuaron Harvey, and then turned the gun on herself, according to the police.
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, the family believes the shooting was accidental. They shared how close the two were after being raised together and how they referred to one another as siblings.
“It wasn’t a situation where they were arguing or anything like that. They were playing with the gun, when they shouldn’t have been. Of course, they shouldn’t have been doing it. I think it just went off. It went off by mistake,” Susan Dyson, Paris’ grandmother said.
The incident was initially listed as a murder-suicide, but police have yet to announce the conclusion of their investigation.
The family rented the Cupples Station Loft Apartments to celebrate the March birthdays of the younger family members. According to the outlet, the children’s mothers did not originally plan to let them attend, but changed their mind after the cousins’ persistence.
The family said that the two children were in the bathroom together, filming a video in the mirror, according to the police.
After Kuaron was shot, the Instagram video shows Paris reaching for the gun. The family believes it accidentally went off again.
Both children were shot in the head, found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene, according to an incident report.
“It was no murder. It wasn’t a suicide,” said Shinise Harvey, Paris’ mother, to the Post-Dispatch.
“It was a freak accident. It happened.”
The police department posted a social media graphic on Facebook saying, “We are sending our heartfelt condolences to the family of 12-year-old Paris Harvey and 14-year-old Kuaron Harvey who tragically passed away on 3/25/22.”
GoFundMe pages have been set up in both Paris and Kuaron’s name to help the families, both having raised less than $1,000.
