Older brother charged in shooting death of Opa-locka girl, 14, in her home, cops say
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The older brother of a 14-year-old Opa-locka girl who was shot dead in her home early Thursday morning was charged with killing her after initially denying it and saying he believed the weapon wasn’t loaded, police said.
But after questioning, Keon Martavius Thornhill was taken into custody by Miami-Dade Police and charged with second-degree murder. Before Thornhill admitted to the shooting, the 19-year-old told police he went upstairs to his bedroom, retrieved the gun and handed it to his sister, who shot herself in the face.
Then, “while the defendant was being detained, he stated several times to officers on the scene, ‘I shot her. It was a mistake. Take me in,’” police wrote in Thornhill’s arrest report.
Police said they were called to Opa-locka’s Mirage at Sailboat Cove development in the 14500 block of Northwest 17th Path just after midnight Wednesday about a man who was running from door to door, causing a commotion and telling people his sister had been shot. At one point, Thornhill knocked on the door of an off-duty Opa-locka police officer, who drove over to the apartment.
When police finally arrived, they said Thornhill told them his sister was bleeding inside the apartment. He also told them, according to his arrest form, that he had gotten into a fight with his sister and went upstairs to get the gun and unloaded it. Then, he told police, he went downstairs and handed it to her.
Miami-Dade Police Spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said Thornhill, the oldest of six children, was taking care of his siblings because his mom was at work when the shooting happened.
“Mom didn’t know the gun was in the house,” Zabaleta said. “The 19-year-old might have found the gun and brought it home.”
Though Opa-locka has its own police department, homicides are handled by Miami-Dade Police.
Police have not released the name of the dead girl. Her four other siblings, all between the ages of nine and 12, were asleep upstairs when the shooting happened.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 9:18 AM.
