MIAMI, Fla. – A 17 year old has been arrested in the shooting death of Arya Gray.
The 15 year old was shot in the head early Tuesday morning in Miami while with friends and her sister inside an apartment.
Miami-Dade police arrested Thalys Gabriel Olivera of Miami on Wednesday. He has been charged with manslaughter with a deadly weapon. Police discovered that the gun used had been reported stolen from Homestead on April 24.
Officers responded about 3 a.m. Tuesday to a two-story apartment building at 7843 NE 10th Ave. in Miami’s Upper East Side neighborhood.
What happened in Apartment No. 5 was originally deemed an accidental shooting.
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Police reported that they spoke to witnesses who said that Olivera was “recklessly brandishing the firearm” while inside the apartment. People in the apartment asked Olivera to put the gun away, according to police, which he did for a short time. Witnesses said that soon after, he took out the Glock 43 gun again, pointed the firearm at Gray, placed his finger on the trigger and fired one round, striking the victim in the head.
Olivera told police that he was playing with the gun and while “playing” with it, he pulled the trigger and saw a flash that struck Gray.
Miami Fire Rescue personnel took Gray to Jackson Memorial Hospital Centers’ Ryder Trauma Center, where she later died.
Olivera apparently lived in the apartment on NE 10th Ave.; his parents lived just doors away. The teens knew each other from Miami Beach High School, where Olivera had played football and where Gray was a student.
“We’re never going to be able to hug her, she’s never going to be able to speak to us anymore,” said Liz Baguer, the victim’s aunt.
Baguer explained that the girl’s older sister was with her at the time of the shooting.
“The group of friends were hanging out and then a gun got pulled out and this happened,” Baguer said. “(She was a) very peaceful person, she loved to be around her family, her friends, her brother and sister, and her sister actually witnessed everything -- witnessed her take her last breath.”
Friends and family have started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral expenses.
Her mother, Maria Elena Gray, was known especially in the close-knit local acting community for her roles in independent movies, commercials and feature films.