NEW ORLEANS — Police say a 5-year-old girl fatally shot herself when her mother locked her inside their home and went to the store.
The New Orleans Police Department said in a news release the girl was home alone Sunday, somehow found her mother's revolver, and accidentally shot herself in the head. The mother, 28-year-old Laderika Smith, will be booked on a charge of second-degree murder. Police say her negligence resulted in the death of her daughter.
Upon returning home from the store, police say Smith found her daughter lying on a bedroom floor with a gunshot wound. She died at a hospital.
The jail's website listed Smith's birthday as Sunday. It wasn't immediately clear whether she had an attorney. A call to the jail was not immediately returned.
