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Baltimore child dies after self-inflicted, accidental shooting led to charges for grandmother, police say

10-year-old dies day after obtaining weapon in grandmother's home, shooting herself
10-year-old dies day after obtaining weapon in grandmother's home, shooting herself 03:14

Loved ones are mourning 10-year-old E'vaa Sewell, who died just days after police said she obtained an unsecured gun while visiting her grandmother's home in Northwest Baltimore near Pimlico over the weekend. 

Sewell accidentally shot herself in the head.

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10-year-old E'vaa Sewell  

Family Grieving, "Broken"

Ames Memorial United Methodist Church Pastor Rod Hudson mentored Sewell from birth. He showed WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren where she was baptized in his West Baltimore church.

"She was just a baby, and I picked her up in my arms. I baptized her in the name of the father and son and Holy Spirit, and I saw her grow from a baby to a little toddler and from a toddler, I saw her continually growing. In each stage, I saw her maturing and growing and coming into the world," Hudson said. 

Asked how the family was holding up, Hudson said, "They're just broken. Not only is her family broken but those who helped raise her are broken. She had such an extended family and right now, we're all trying to make sense of why and how."

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10-year-old E'vaa Sewell and Ames Memorial United Methodist Church Pastor Rod Hudson 

Grandmother Charged

Police described the weapon Sewell found on an upstairs bedroom as a pink diamond 9-millimeter handgun. 

The pastor said it may have looked like a toy. "E'vaa was curious. She would go through things, even if you had things put up, she would go through and manipulate things. She just loved to play with things so as a child—like any child—you know, she was curious probably," he said. 

Her 51-year-old grandmother Alethea Mitchell is facing criminal charges. 

Her public defender said in court this week that Mitchell is "distraught" and claimed the gun belonged to an ex-boyfriend. 

She said Mitchell did not know it was in the home. 

Police alleged in charging documents that the gun was Mitchell's, and she was prohibited from having a weapon because of a past criminal conviction. They traced the serial number and wrote the handgun was stolen in a burglary in North Carolina in 2017.

"She loved her grandchild, and we can't take that away," Pastor Hudson said. "She loved her baby, and she wanted to spend time with her baby. This is just an unfortunate incident, accident."

Online records showed no additional charges have been filed against Mitchell since Sewell's death. 

Tragedy Strikes Days Before Birthday 

Hudson said Sewell, who would have celebrated her 11th birthday in less than two weeks, was bright and energetic. 

"She was so mature in so many ways. She said exactly what she meant. She was a sister girl I would say… an old soul, sister girl. She would snap those fingers. She would come here sometimes and put her phone right there and do TikToks," Hudson said, pointing to the front of his sanctuary. "She was the type of girl who would go on the monkey bars and pull herself up and down, up and down—and the boys couldn't even do it! And they were all wondering, why is she so strong? She was just a fighter. And even in the hospital, she fought."

Wake-Up Call

Pastor Hudson told WJZ Sewell's death should serve as a a wake up call to anyone with a gun and a child in their home. 

"My first message is put it away. Lock it up. Learn how to store guns, and if you have children in your house, it's a good opportunity to teach them how to use guns safely," he said.

The pastor noted this death was preventable. 

"There are a lot of laws on the books to regulate how guns are controlled, and one of the things that I believe our city could do is—number one, we need to have more education. Children need to be educated about guns and safety," he said. "Not only that but there ought to be lock boxes distributed throughout our communities."

Pastor Hudson said there is now an online fundraiser for the family. 

Nationwide Problem

Children have died before in Baltimore after obtaining access to an unsecured weapon. 

In 2022, a grandmother was convicted after her 9-year-old grandson was able to obtain her weapon. 

He shot and killed 15-year-old NyKayla Strawder at her family's home in Southwest Baltimore. 

That grandmother, April Gaskins, was sentenced to four years behind bars

Nationwide, hundreds of children die each year according to the End Family Fire Program, a partnership with the Brady Campaign. 

"We lose here in the U.S. about eight children a day to getting into an unsecured firearm in the home," said Colleen Creighton, End Family Fire's senior director. "Across the board, the simple step we can take that can save so many lives would just be to safely and securely store a gun." 

Creighton said, "You always think, 'It can't happen to me. That's someone else. It's never going to happen to me.' Well, we see many cases like this one, where it does. When you have a gun, just keep it safely locked."

Cable and trigger locks and lockboxes can be purchased for less than 20 dollars, the organization said.

"If you look across the board, across the country, you are more likely to be killed by the gun in your home than someone outside the home coming in," Creighton said. 

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