July 02, 2016
Charges have been filed against the boyfriend of the mother whose 4-year-old daughter accessed a gun — allegedly owned illegally — and fatally shot herself in the face in North Philadelphia.
Demetrius Williams, 26, faces counts of involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, endangering the welfare of another person and possessing an instrument of a crime, police announced Saturday.
Williams, who turned himself in Friday, also faces charges of illegally possessing a weapon, specifically that he was a former convict and did not have a license for the gun that took the child's life.
Related: Temple Hospital employee giving away free gun locks
The girl, who has now been identified as Sani Holmes, grabbed a loaded handgun from a closet in a second-floor bedroom of a home on the 1800 block of North 20th Street on June 23.
She fired the gun while looking down the barrel with her mother and 3-year-old sister in the room, according to police.
The child was rushed to Hahnemann University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The mother, 25-year-old Shakeya Holmes, has been charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and related counts.
Shakeya Holmes
