Two people, including a grandmother, are facing charges after a child fatally shot herself Saturday at a Bartow County campsite.
Kimberly Anne Roberts, 47, and James Phillip Lillie, 50, are both charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in connection with the incident, according to Bartow County Jail records.
The shooting happened at a campsite on Chitwood Cove in the Wilderness Camp Road area about 8:30 p.m., Bartow sheriff’s office spokesman Maj. Jonathan Rogers said.
According to a sheriff’s incident report, the adults had just returned to their tent to go to sleep after a night of drinking. About 10 minutes later, they “heard a gunshot and a whimper,” they told authorities.
Investigators determined the child shot herself in the head while playing with a pistol. A nurse in the area was able to start CPR on the child before she was rushed to a local hospital in an ambulance.
She was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Her name and age have not been released.
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While Roberts was the victim’s grandmother, Lillie has no known relation to the child, Rogers said.
Both Roberts and Lillie were taken to the Bartow County Jail, where they remain. In addition to manslaughter and reckless conduct, they are both charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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