A Florida woman holding her infant son in a baby carrier was shot dead by her 14-year-old brother while trying to defuse an argument between him and a 15-year-old brother who also was armed, authorities said.
The brothers had been arguing over Christmas gifts when the 14-year-old shot their sister.
The 15-year-old brother then shot his younger brother, though not fatally, for killing their sister on Sunday, Dec. 24, in Largo, Florida, which is located in the Tampa metro area, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Details of the argument
The argument over gifts started while the three siblings were Christmas shopping with their mother and the sister’s two sons, ages 6 and 11 months.
It continued when they went to their grandmother’s house where the sister, 23, told the younger brother to stop arguing with his older brother since it was Christmas Eve.
Once at the home, the 14-year-old reportedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at his brother, threatening to shoot him in the head.
A Gualtieri said an uncle at the home separated the teens and took the 14-year-old outside.
Also outside was their sister, 23-year-old Abrielle Baldwin, holding her 11-month-old baby in a carrier.
At some point, the sister told the teens to essentially ‘chill out,’ according to Gualtieri.
Instead of doing that, the 14-year-old shot her in the chest, ‘tearing up her insides,’ the sheriff said.
The younger brother then told his sister he was going to shoot her and her infant, and then he shot her in the chest, the sheriff’s office said.
Her baby was not hurt because the child was in the carrier.
The payback
The older brother then shot his younger brother outside the home because of what he had done to their sister and he fled the home, tossing his firearm in a nearby yard, authorities said.
He was taken to a mental health facility after he was located since he had threatened to harm himself.
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Once he is released from the mental health facility, he will be taken to a juvenile detention center, the news release said.
The 14-year-old brother was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and for possessing a firearm as a delinquent.
His 15-year-old brother was charged with attempted first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, the sheriff’s office said.
The investigation is ongoing.
