For the second time in a week, a teenage Miami girl is accidentally killed by gunfire
A 17-year-old girl in Miami was accidentally shot in the head and killed by a friend Monday night — the second teen to lose her life to accidental gunfire in the city in less than a week. The tragedy, as most people remain cooped up in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, concerned community leaders enough to announce they would address the situation during a Thursday news conference.
“Honestly, I wish it would have occurred to me sooner,” Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina said. “The truth is you have a lot of kids at home that normally would be at school and doing other things. We’ve had two horrific incidents in the past week. It’s just brutal.”
Colina, along with Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez and Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, will discuss the two shootings Thursday afternoon in front of Miami police headquarters.
“It’s really just going to be a public plea. If you have a weapon in your house, please secure it,” Colina said.
In the most recent incident on Monday, police said when they arrived at 2721 SW 20th St in Allapattah a little past 8 p.m., they found the 17-year-old victim dead on the floor with a gunshot wound. Clearly visible to police, they said, was a black handgun and a magazine that had been placed on a desk near the entrance.
Four people were detained, according to the report, two juveniles and two adults. All four told police the shooting was accidental. The report did not list the age or name of victim, only mentioning her last name as Renginfos.
Police say they suspect she was shot by Michael McGowan, 17, who now faces a charge of manslaughter with a deadly weapon. His arrest affidavit says he admitted to the shooting and like his friends said it was accidental.
Colina said the friends had rented an Airbnb for the day and that’s where the shooting happened.
Less than a week earlier on May 12, a 15-year-old girl lost her life to gunfire in Miami’s Shorecrest neighborhood in the city’s northeast section.
According to police, Thalys Oliveira, 17, told police he was playing with a gun in his apartment when he put his finger on the trigger, accidentally fired and killed Miami Beach Senior High School student Arya Gray. Friends told police they had earlier told Thalys to put the gun away, which he did, only to return with it a short time later. Arya was killed in front of her sister.
Thalys, like Michael, was charged with manslaughter with a deadly weapon. Miami-Dade prosecutors said they were reviewing whether to charge Thalys as an adult.
This story was originally published May 20, 2020 at 6:42 PM.
