17-year-old brother of 15-year-old Steven Estevez accused in his fatal shooting

NEW YORK - Police are charging a 17-year-old on Staten Island with homicide after he was accused of fatally shooting his younger brother.

Police say it happened inside the family's apartment on Thompson Street in Stapleton earlier this month. 

Officers say they found 15-year-old Steven Estevez with a gunshot wound to the head. He died at a hospital a few days later. 

Sources say police believe it was an accident and that the older brother was playing with the gun when it accidentally went off. 

One neighbor tells us the brothers attended Ralph McKee High School and were inseparable. 

"If you see one, you see the other. They was so close together, and it's sad to know what happened, and they say it's supposedly a mistake. And I said, why we playing with guns?" the neighbor said. 

The Legal Aid Society represents the older brother and said, in part, "We ask the public to refrain from drawing hasty conclusions and to respect the family's privacy during this extraordinarily difficult time of mourning. We will have more to say about this case in the coming days, weeks and months."