A ten-year-old girl could face a second-degree murder charge after shooting a woman who was involved in a fight with her mom, Florida police say.
Lashun Denise Rodgers, 41, (pictured, right) was shot dead while grilling outside her Orlando home on Memorial Day, after getting into an altercation with the child’s mother, 31-year-old Lakrisha Isaac (pictured, left).
According to witnesses, Isaac was drunk when she approached Rodgers and confronted her over a social media post, before throwing a punch.
The victim’s boyfriend said Rodgers hit back, and the two began fighting. Isaac handed her bag to the 10-year-old, who began rummaging inside.
The boyfriend said he attempted to break the women up by grabbing Rodgers and leading her inside, NBC News reported, but she broke away and attempted to “re-engage” with her assailant.
That’s when the child pulled a gun from the bag and shot Rodgers twice, killing her, investigators say.
“She shouldn’t have hit my momma,” the girl said, according to the boyfriend, before she turned the gun on him. He was left “looking into the barrel of the firearm”, the affidavit states, before he raised his arms in the air and fled.
The girl was immediately placed in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families. On Tuesday, she was arrested and taken to a juvenile facility.
Her mother meanwhile has been arrested on charges of manslaughter by culpable negligence, aggravated assault with a firearm, negligent storage of a firearm and child neglect. She is being held without bond.
State Attorney Monique H. Worrell has yet to decide what charges may be brought against the daughter, describing the shooting as “an unimaginable tragedy that defies easy solutions.”
“This is one of the most tragic cases I have seen in my 22-year career,” she said. “Our office has started the process of reviewing this case and will consider all of the facts, including the age of the child, and all of the surrounding circumstances, when making a charging decision.”
“We want to be clear in stating that no charging decision has been made by our office,” she added. “However, we anticipate that whatever charges we eventually file, if any, will ensure she receives the interventions necessary to address her behavior, help her change and grow, and ensure the public’s safety going forward.”
“We encourage the public to remember — no matter your feelings surrounding this tragedy — this is still a child.”
Family and friends of Lashun “Bones” Rodgers told reporters she was a beloved mother and grandmother known for giving money to the neighborhood kids, and was not the type of person to get involved in fights.
“Bones giving, loving,” her best friend Stacey Johnson told WIFR. “Bones will give you the shoes and the shirt off her back, literally. I’ve seen her do it.”
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