Crime

Teen charged as an adult in gun death of Miami Beach High freshman Arya Gray

Arya Gray, 15, was shot to death on May 12, 2020, by a friend who was “recklessly playing” with a loaded gun, police said. The friend, Thalys Oliveira, 17, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm.
Arya Gray, 15, was shot to death on May 12, 2020, by a friend who was “recklessly playing” with a loaded gun, police said. Facebook

Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Miami teenager as an adult in the shooting that killed 15-year-old Miami Beach High freshman Arya Gray.

Thalys Oliveira will face trial on a charge of manslaughter with a deadly weapon. He turned 18 late last month, 15 days after his arrest.

Miami police say that shooting happened as Oliveira was “recklessly brandishing” a gun during a late-night hangout of teenagers at his Shorecrest apartment on May 12.

Friends told him to put the gun away, police said, but he later returned with the gun and “pointed the firearm at the victim,” according to an arrest report. He fired one round, hitting Arya in the head, according to the report. He admitted to police he was “playing around” with the gun.

Arya was shot and killed in front of her sister, who was also at the hangout. Oliveira has been in juvenile detention since the shooting happened.

Oliveira’s defense attorney, Michael Grieco, declined to comment.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 11:29 AM.

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David Ovalle
Miami Herald
305-376-3379
David Ovalle covers crime and courts in Miami. A native of San Diego, he graduated from the University of Southern California and joined the Herald in 2002 as a sports reporter.
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