Twanda Harmon, 54, will be charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, and reckless endangerment, the District Attorney’s Office said Friday, after Harmon’s 14-year-old grandson found and fired her gun, which had been “negligently stored” in an upstairs bedroom of the home, on the 1600 block of North 29th Street.
The teen, who officials said has severe developmental disabilities, was handling the gun when it fired at least once and shot his cousin in the back of the head.
The girl’s mother ran into the street screaming for help, her child bleeding in her arms. Neighbors tried to assist, and police rushed the pair to Temple University Hospital. But the little girl died a short time later.
Harmon was not the original purchaser of the gun, according to a law enforcement source. She was allegedly given the gun by someone else, potentially a relative, who asked her to hold onto it for them, the source said, but that person then reported the gun stolen in South Carolina.
Also, PSA: according to what I heard on WHYY today, Philly sheriffs stations will give out free gun locks.
A shame. Fucking idiots, from the “cousin” who lent her the gun to her storing it unsecured.