Dallas 6-year-old's shooting death sparks conversation about proper gun storage
DALLAS - There are still questions surrounding the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl in Old East Dallas. Police are not releasing a lot of details about what led to the shooting; however, the incident has opened another conversation about how to properly store guns and educate kids.
"It's a nightmare, we are living in a nightmare right now," says Ah'Layna's grandfather Michael Key.
Key says his family is still reeling from the loss Ah'Layna. Her death comes two weeks after her 14-year-old brother was killed in a shooting on Oak Lawn Avenue. Investigators say Ah'Layna was shot Wednesday afternoon by an unsecured gun that was inside the family's home off of Fitzhugh Avenue.
"That's what I'm so upset about right now. If there was a gun in this house, the gun should not have been there. It should have been put up in a safe location where she couldn't have reached out to it," says Key.
Police have arrested 19-year-old Damariya Sowels, accused of hiding two guns from police. In the arrest affidavit, it states Sowels brought a Glock 40 and Mac 10 inside the home. It also states Sowels set the Mac 10 on a PlayStation. "When I think about it, it should've been an accident, because no gun should be in this house. No gun should've been in the side of a six-year-old child," says Key.
"You need to understand that only takes a minute for a child to access a gun," says Dr. Daniel Guzman, with Cook Children's Hospital. Guzman heads the Aim for Safety program at the hospital, where he goes to schools and teaches kids the importance of gun safety. He's even done studies with toy guns, looking at how easily guns can get in the hands of children.
"About 60% of the kids sat down and picked up the gun and pointed the barrel at their siblings. The kids said they were trying to figure out if the gun was real or not, or if it was loaded or not, and that's when tragedy happens," says Guzman.
Officer Jesse Carr with Dallas police says the department does offer free gun locks. "All they need to do is come by headquarters or their local substation and ask for a cable lock and we will give that to them," Carr explains.
Guzman says prevention started with education from the parents.
"It starts at home. It starts with families having those conversations and realizing we're all at risk it doesn't matter who you are. I'm sure if there wasn't a gun in the home when it was brought in the risk immediately went up, and the child unfortunately died of tragic death."
The big question right now is who pulled the trigger. Investigators tell CBS News Texas, they are still waiting for lab tests to come back to answer that question.