St. Louis, MO – Two cousins were livestreaming at a birthday party Friday night when one fatally shot the other before turning the gun on herself.
Kuaron Harvey, 14, and Paris Harvey, 12, were on Instagram live when the younger child shot her teenage cousin dead, then shot herself.
The two children were both shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene.
St. Louis police called it a murder-suicide, however, the family insists it was a freak accident.
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“It was no murder. It wasn’t a suicide,” said Shinise Harvey, 35, Paris’ mother, according to the St. Louis Dispatch. “It was a freak accident. It happened.” She did not watch the video herself but family members who did described it to her, she said. They were “trying to be too hip,” she said.
It is unclear where the gun came from.
The St. Louis Dispatch reported:
A family party at a downtown apartment turned tragic, and now family members are coping with the deaths of two young cousins after police said one of them, a girl, 12, shot the other, a boy, 14, and then herself.
The incident happened around 2 a.m. Friday at South 10th and Spruce streets at the Cupples Station Loft Apartments. Family members had rented the downtown apartment to celebrate March birthdays.
Police have yet to announce the results of their investigation. The incident was initially listed by police as a murder-suicide.
Family members said Kuaron and Paris were in a bathroom at the apartment alone, making a video in the mirror.
After Kuaron was shot, the video shows the girl reaching for the gun, and it may have accidentally gone off again, they said. Both children were shot in the head, family members said.