HAMMOND, Ind. — In Tangipahoa Parish, a teenager is in jail charged in what police are calling the accidental shooting death of another teen.
The 14-year-old boy is accused of handling the gun that killed a 13-year-old girl.
It happened early Saturday morning in the 1200 block of Willow Street.
Tatanisha Taylor lives a few houses down from where the shooting happened.
“Everybody on this street, we’re like a large family,” Taylor said. “We do things together. We take care of each other. I still just don’t understand how something like this would happen.”
Police released few details about the shooting, only that it happened inside a home.
A Facebook post from the Lucille Nesom Memorial School in Tickfaw where the girl was a student, identified her as Dereon Reed.
According to the post, social workers and counselors will be on campus to help students deal with the loss when school resumes.
Back on Willow Street, Taylor says the violence has got to stop.
“Parents, if you have guns, please lock them up. These kids are about our lives and the future. I pray for her family, but this is just so disturbing. It really is.”
The 14-year-old was taken to the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention Center.
He was booked on a negligent homicide charge.
There will be a balloon launch for Dereon Reed Wednesday night at 6 at the Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, 1005 Lavanner Brown Drive in Hammond.
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