Miami Beach High freshman fatally shot in head by her pal. He may be charged as an adult

The Miami teen accused of accidentally shooting and killing a Miami Beach High freshman may face charges as an adult, prosecutors said Thursday.

Thalys Oliveira, 17, was charged as a juvenile this week with manslaughter with a firearm after Miami police said he was playing around with a gun, aimed the weapon and shot 15-year-old Arya Gray while hanging out with a group of friends early Tuesday. Arya was killed in front of her sister.

“She saw her sister get shot in the head, bleed and take her last breath,” said the girls’ aunt, Elizabeth Baguer.

The killing has left the Surfside family reeling. They plan to hold a candlelight vigil Saturday night in Surfside for Arya, a soft-spoken teen who loved to draw, sing and listen to music. A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help the family cover the costs of her burial.

“She wanted to do what every teenager does — finish high school and go to prom,” Baguer said.

Oliveira’s mother, Tatiana Martin, declined to comment but said her lawyer would be giving the teen’s side of the story soon.

“I feel for the victim’s family,” she said. “All the families are losing something. We’re all hurting.”

Oliveira, for now, is charged as a juvenile. A Miami-Dade prosecutor said in a juvenile court hearing on Wednesday that he would be charged as an adult.

But the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said it was still reviewing the evidence and no decision had been made.

Oliveira’s age, however, could mean his case winds up in adult court. He turns 18 on May 27.

“In this particular case, the shooter is turning 18 in less than 2 weeks,” said Ed Griffith, a spokesman. “This is important since the juvenile justice system loses jurisdiction of a non-committed youth at the age of 19. This significantly limits the viable options in this particular case for having an appropriate outcome in the juvenile justice system.”

This week’s shooting was not Oliveira’s first arrest involving a gun.

In December, a North Miami cop was responding to the report of a shooting in which the suspect was described as a “Hispanic male with a backpack.” The officer ran across Oliveira walking on the street. Patting him down, Officer S. Norfleet “felt the imprint of a firearm in the defendant’s backpack,” a police report said.

Handcuffed and seated in the back seat of a patrol car, Oliveira “spontaneously uttered to police that the thing in his bag was his father’s.” Inside, police found a 9mm pistol. Oliveira later admitted “he put the firearm in his backpack but did not fire it,” according to an arrest report.

Oliveria was charged as a juvenile with carrying a concealed firearm, a third-degree felony.

But the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute. The reason: Prosecutors ruled that the officer had “no probable cause” for searching Oliveira’s backpack.

“Evidence will be inadmissible in court. The State respectfully declines to prosecute,” according to a final memo on the case.

This week’s shooting happened at Oliveira’s apartment in Miami’s Shorecrest neighborhood. He, Arya, her sister and two others were hanging out at 2 a.m. Arya’s family said no adults were home at the time, and they believed he lived there on his own.

According to a Miami police arrest report, the three others said Oliveira was “recklessly brandishing” a black gun. Two of the friends asked him to put the gun away, which he did, police said.

But he later returned with the gun and “pointed the firearm at the victim” and fired one round, hitting Arya in the head, according to the report. He admitted to police he was “playing around” with the gun.

“It wasn’t an accident when he decided to go and purchased a gun,” said Baguer, Arya’s aunt. “What was the reason for that? What was so important that he needed a gun. He should have known not to have a gun.”

This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 6:00 AM.