Police identify 4-year-old girl fatally shot by sibling during accidental shooting in North City home

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A 4-year-old girl was shot and killed Monday night in north St. Louis at Thrush and San Juan Avenue.

According to police, officers found the unconscious child with a gunshot wound and transported her to a hospital, where she later died. She was identified Wednesday as Harley Hosein.

Authorities said four children under the age of 10 were inside the home. Those children were 10-years-old, 9-years-old and 4-year-old twins. No parents were found at the time of the shooting. Spokesperson for St. Louis Police Mitch McCoy said during a press briefing Tuesday that the mother left the children while she went to the store around midnight.

One of the children called 911 to report the incident. Police said the gun was left in a place easily accessible.

“How heartbroken we are over this awful and avoidable tragedy,” McCoy said.

This is currently being investigated as an accidental shooting. One of the girl’s siblings pulled the trigger while holding the gun, McCoy said.

“Our entire community is feeling the pain of what happened this morning,” McCoy said.

Detectives and the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office are investigating to determine if someone will face charges in the girl’s death. Both homicide and child abuse detectives are investigating, and the final stage will be looking at the evidence and going through interviews before presenting the case to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney.

“They have to make sure this is right because we’re the voice now for the 4-year-old girl who doesn’t have one,” McCoy said. “We have to make sure when we talk with the Circuit Attorney’s Office and we present the facts as we know it, that we’re doing that little girl justice, so we’re not going to stop.

Police believe the mother is the owner of the gun used in the girl’s death. First, Alert 4 asked if the gun was owned legally or illegally, but police did not provide an answer. Police did say they believe that the gun was ed down from a family member.

“Mom made a terrible decision. The kids were left alone. There was an unsecured firearm. But, it’s also a mother who is grieving, she lost a child. Our hearts go out to the entire family but we also have to make sure we get justice for the 4-year-old little girl,” said McCoy.

Police said that Children’s Services are looking for placement for the other three children to make sure they are in a safe environment.

Erin Pohl with the Crime Victim Center said this is why gun locks are so important.

“We know that it’s not realistic to think that a parent is going to be home all the time,” Pohl said. “Brothers and sisters watch their brothers and sisters and we don’t necessarily think there’s a problem with that but when you have a weapon in the home that in a child’s eyes can be misconstrued as a toy.”

Pohl said no matter how much crime officers deal with, this isn’t easy to process.

“They are people too,” Pohl said. “They have traumatic responses even if we never see it but they feel it every day. This can wear on any human and they are humans.”

McCoy said this has been tough to handle, especially for the officers who drove the 4-year-old to the hospital and tried to render aid to save her life.

“I can assure you they will not forget this,” McCoy said. “For the officers that tried to save this little girl. That’s traumatic.”

Joy Camp is a licensed clinical therapist at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, she says the trauma the three children who witnessed the shooting will have to be addressed.

“I believe those kids will need some mental health services,” said Camp. “I have worked with a lot of youth who may have 5 or 6 guns in their possession at one time and it’s just easy and they don’t even have to be of legal age to purchase a gun.”

Camp says there needs to be daily discussions with children about gun violence because their seeing and hearing about it often. She recommends parents to let their children lead the conversations with their children.

Police emphasized how avoidable incidents like this one can be. Gun owners can get gun locks for free at several places in the St. Louis area, including the police department’s north, central, and south patrol offices.

“If you have small children in your home and you have a firearm just double check,” McCoy said. “Make sure it’s locked up. Something like this is avoidable. If you’re going to own a firearm be responsible with it. Don’t just assume. Don’t just think. Make sure it’s locked up.”

The Crime Victim Center has resources available for anyone impacted by this. You can call 314-652-3623 or visit victims.org.

The St. Louis Crisis Nursery is also available to families who need help. They can help when families feel they have no other options.

“It sounds like mom had gone to the store and it sounds like maybe there wasn’t anyone else to step in and be with those kiddos. The families we serve at The Nursey are so often faced with tough choices, going to the store, leaving kids alone, going to work,” said Molly Brown, the CEO of the Crisis Nursery.

They are available 24/7 to families in need. Call the helpline at 314-768-3201.

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