A Missouri girl aged just 14 accidentally’ shot her 12 year-old cousin dead and then killed herself while streaming on Instagram Live at a birthday party, her stricken family says.
St Louis Police initially described Friday’s incident, in which 12-year-old Paris Harvey, shot her 14-year-old cousin, Kuaron Harvey before shooting herself, as a murder-suicide.
But the children’s family have since described the horrific shooting that took place at a house the family rented to celebrate birthdays, as a ‘freak accident.’
Kuaron and Paris, whose mother and father are siblings, were pronounced dead at the scene. Relatives have shut down reports of a murder-suicide, saying instead it was a ‘freak accident.’
‘It was no murder. It wasn’t a suicide,’ Paris’ mother, 35-year-old Shinise Harvey, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch. ‘It was a freak accident. It happened.’
Harvey said she had not seen the video but family members had described it to her.
She said the cousins were ‘trying to be too hip,’ when livestreaming from the downtown apartment’s bathroom before the tragedy.
Paris’ grandmother, Susan Dyson, said she saw the Instagram Live video the two cousins were making together.
After Kuaron was shot in the head, Paris reached for the gun and it may have accidentally gone off, also wounding her in the head, relatives have said.
‘It wasn’t a situation where they were arguing or anything like that,’ Dyson told the Post-dispatch.
‘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.’
The gun was believed to have been taken to the party by Kuaron, but cops are still investigating who the weapon was registered to.
It is unclear if law enforcement plans to bring charges against any of the adults in charge of the children or their parents.
Family members told the Post-dispatch Paris and Kuaron were very close, called each other brother and sister and were always facetiming, rapping, making videos and pulling pranks.
Angel Dyson, Paris’ aunt, also told the outlet the cousins acted ‘older than they were.’
‘No matter how good we try to raise our kids,’ Shinise Harvey said, ‘they still are going to venture off.’
On social media, police posted a tribute for the children after their sudden death.
‘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.’
Family members said Paris, who was one of nine children, was a funny seventh grader who loved getting her hair and nails done and had a beautiful voice.
They described Kuaron as a goofy eighth grader who had long been able to do back flips.
According to the Post-dispatch, the party was for teenagers and younger adults in the family.
While Paris and Kuaron had been initially told they couldn’t go to the party, their mothers eventually said yes when the children begged them to go.
Paris’ sister, Tatyina Gilliehan, set up a GoFundMe to raise money to cover funeral costs. Kuaron’s mother, Dara Harvey, has also set up a fundraiser.
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How did they get their hands on a gun…whose gun is it …why they had acess to it…..how did she get the gun…both parents need to be jailed for involuntary manslaughter …..
Man hush, it’s not even your business, mistakes happen sometimes. Hell the parent prolly didn’t know of any gun or this and that. Dealing w the loss of your own kid and being jailed for it unknowingly is terrible. Childish🤡
Exactly. What purpose would that serve to put the parents in jail. Missouri is an open carry state. There’s guns all over out there. Mistakes happen
Stupid comment
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