A fight between siblings in Florida left their sister shot to death after she tried to stop a fight between the minors, ages 15 and 14, over Christmas gifts, authorities reported.
The 14-year-old brother shot and killed his sister; In response, the 15-year-old brother shot the minor, although he did not die. This happened on Sunday in Largo, a community in Tampa, Pinellas County police reported.
The argument over gifts began when the three brothers were Christmas shopping with their mother and their sister’s two children, a 6-year-old and an 11-month-old baby. The fight continued at the grandmother’s house, where her 23-year-old sister told her younger brother that she stop arguing with her older brother because it was Christmas Eve. Her younger brother then told her sister that he was going to shoot her and her baby, and then shot her in the chest, the police department said. At that moment she was holding her baby.
The older brother then shot the younger brother outside the house for what he did to his sister and fled the home, throwing his firearm in a nearby yard, authorities said. After being located, he was transferred to a mental health facility, as he threatened to injure himself. Once he is released from the mental health facility, he will be transferred to a juvenile detention center, according to the news release.
The 14-year-old brother was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and possessing a firearm as a felon. The 15-year-old was charged with attempted first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, the police department said.