MIAMI – Two teenage girls were accidentally shot in the head nearly a week apart from each other in the city of Miami, authorities confirmed.
Michael McGowan, 17, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Monday night shooting at an efficiency in the 2700 block of Southwest 20th Street.
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He faces one count of manslaughter.
According to his arrest report, authorities found two juveniles and two adults inside the home when they responded to the scene just before 8:30 p.m.
Police said the victim was 17-year-old Giselle Rengifo, who was found on the floor with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A black handgun and magazine were on top of a desk near the front door, authorities said.
According to the arrest report, all four people inside the efficiency were questioned by detectives and McGowan confessed that he was holding the gun when it accidentally discharged, shooting the victim in the head.
The witnesses all corroborated McGowan’s statement, authorities said.
Police said Arya Gray, 15, was also recently shot in the head while with friends and her sister inside an apartment at 7843 NE 10th Ave. in Miami’s Upper East Side neighborhood.
Miami-Dade police arrested Thalys Gabriel Olivera, 17, of Miami, on May 13, a day after the shooting. He faces a charge of manslaughter with a deadly weapon.
Police said they discovered that the gun used in the shooting had been reported stolen from Homestead on April 24.
According to authorities, witnesses said 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.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help with Gray’s funeral expenses.