Riviera Beach girl, 4, fatally shoots self with stolen gun; teen, girl's uncle arrested

Police say girl apparently found gun under bed at home

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. – A 4-year-old girl died Sunday after shooting herself with a stolen gun that she apparently found under a bed in her Riviera Beach home, police said.

Riviera Beach police spokeswoman Rose Ann Brown said several people, including the girl's mother, were inside the home Sunday evening when the girl was fatally shot.

Police said a 16-year-old and the girl's uncle have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

According to a police report, the gun discharged shortly after 8:30 p.m. while Amirra Jacques was playing with it. Police said the teenager then discarded the gun.

Amirra was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where she pronounced dead.

The girl's uncle, Nathaniel Lowe, faces charges of culpable negligence, tampering with evidence, grand theft of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a felon. The teen faces charges of culpable negligence, tampering with evidence, perjury and grand theft of a firearm.

According to the report, the teen told police that he was playing video games with Lowe when he heard a gunshot, walked out of his bedroom and saw Amirra lying in the hallway with a gun near her body.

The teen told police that Lowe told him to get rid of the gun. He led detectives to the side yard of a home on West 34th Street, where they recovered the stolen gun.

According to the report, Lowe told police that he had seen the gun on the bottom of the bunk bed, but he didn't put it away. Lowe said he got scared after the shooting and gave the gun to the teen because Lowe is a convicted felon and isn't supposed to be around guns.


About the Authors:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.