LARGO, Fla. — An argument between two Florida brothers over who was receiving more Christmas presents turned deadly on Sunday when guns were drawn and their older sister was fatally shot after she attempted to intervene, authorities said.
Abrielle Baldwin, 23, of Oldsmar, was transported to an area hospital and died from a gunshot wound to her chest, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said during a news conference on Tuesday.
The 14- and 15-year-old brothers were arrested and charged, the sheriff said. The 14-year-old was charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, and delinquent in possession of a firearm. He was also wounded but was in stable condition, authorities said. The older boy was charged with attempted first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, according to the news release.
The dispute began during a family shopping trip in Largo and continued when the boys, their mother, Baldwin and her 11-month-old and 6-year-old sons returned to the home of the juveniles’ grandmother, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
The younger juvenile was allegedly upset that his older brother was receiving more Christmas gift and an argument ensued, WTVT reported.
The 14-year-old pulled out a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at his brother and threatened to shoot him in the head, Gualtieri said during a news conference.
The teens’ uncle separated the boys, telling the younger boy to step outside, the Times reported. Baldwin also attempted to intervene, and the 14-year-old yelled at her before discharging his weapon, Gualtieri said.
The victim was holding her younger son in a carrier at the time of the shooting, according to the newspaper. Gualtieri said the baby was not injured.
“She was just a woman going about life with her two kids, trying to make a living and trying to make it,” the sheriff told reporters.
The sheriff said the 15-year-old juvenile left the residence and shot his younger brother with a .45 caliber handgun because his sibling had shot their sister, the sheriff said. The boy then fled the scene, tossing his weapon into a nearby yard. Detectives have been unable to locate that firearm.
The 15-year-old contacted his mother and was later arrested and transported to a mental health facility due to “self-harm statements,” the sheriff said. He will be transferred to the custody of the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center once he is released.
Gualtieri said that after conducting interviews, deputies learned that both boys allegedly carried guns “all the time.”
“They routinely carried firearms on them,” the sheriff said. “People knew it. That’s what they did, and a lot of it, they claim, is because of” recent incidents in the area where they lived.
“These young kids, 14, 15 years old, they routinely carry firearms, and, this is what happens when you’ve got young delinquents that carry guns,” Gualtieri said. “They get upset, they don’t know how to handle stuff, and they take out their guns and start shooting each other.
“And one of them kills his sister.”
The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case and will decide whether to charge the juveniles as adults, the Times reported.
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