*A five-year-old girl from Georgia was shot dead by her playmate after the little girl found a gun and pulled the trigger.
Jada Willingham was stuck in the face and died at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston Hospital, the New York Post reported.
The incident occurred Dec. 4, in the bedroom of a home in Lithonia where Jada and her friend of the same age were playing with a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson. The gun belonged to the friend’s mother, who is in the military. The girls found the weapon under a bed and decided to play with it.
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So sad. Jada Willingham, pictured, was killed when another 5-year-old girl fired a weapon, striking her in the face. Police said the two children were friends and had known each other their entire lives. https://t.co/PowHVf82mv
— AJC (@ajc) December 9, 2020
The 68-year-old babysitter at the time is the grandmother of one of the children. She found Jada unconscious and bleeding from the face. The child was then rushed to the hospital where she died.
On Saturday, police arrested 36-year-old Chad Brooks, Sr., for Jada’s death. He has been charged with with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children for leaving the gun attended. Brooks is reportedly the son-in-law of the babysitter. He is said to be in the custody of Dekalb County Jail.
It was unclear where Jada’s mother was at the time of the incident.
“Even though grown men feel sad and want to cry when they see things like this,” DeKalb County Police Major A.T. Mears said.
“Her life didn’t get to start yet. Her life didn’t even start,” neighbor Naomi Lyons said. She added, “It really just broke my heart. Even though I don’t know the kid still, no child deserves that.”
A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help the family pay for funeral expenses. The pages notes that Jada “was a beautiful, loving little girl” who loved Barbie dolls.
“Be responsible if you have weapons. If you have guns and children make sure you are responsible and take care of those things. Look after the children,” Mears said.
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