Photo Courtesy of KDSK
A St. Louis family is grieving the tragic loss of two young relatives who died early Friday morning.
According to KDSK, Paris Harvey, 12, and her cousin Kuaron Harvey, 14, were at the Cupples Station Loft Apartments when Paris fatally shot her older cousin before killing herself. The youngsters were broadcasting live on Instagram when the shooting occurred. Police responded to the scene at 2 a.m.– where they discovered the bodies.
Although the family believes the deaths were accidental, St. Louis police call the double shooting a murder-suicide.
Shanise Harvey, Paris’ mom, told KDSK her account of what she believed happened.
“(Paris) dropped the gun, and it fell, and it went off to my knowledge. And then when she picked it up, she picked it up by the barrel, and it went off. That’s all I know. It was not a suicide. It was just a freak accident.”
Shanise also explained that her daughter was attending a party with family members to celebrate everyone who had a birthday in March.
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“Everybody was getting together to celebrate, and so the younger kids, they got a bed and breakfast,” the grieving mother continued. “They were making a video, and (Paris) was playing with the gun, but it went off and hit him.”
Kuaron had just turned fourteen years old. Although she wasn’t at the apartment when the incident occurred, Shanise said she was unaware of how Paris ended up with the gun, nor did she know who it belonged to.
The deceased boy was her nephew and godson. His mother was not at the party either.
St. Louis police are now investigating who the gun belonged to, and it’s not been determined if anyone will face charges.
Our hearts go out to the family.