Overview
- Police say officers responded to a shooting in north St. Louis and found 7-month-old Kiyomi Parker with a gunshot wound from an incident that occurred on Friday, June 26, and she later died despite life-saving care.
- A 10-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder and is in the custody of the Missouri Children’s Division, where he was taken for a psychiatric evaluation and will remain in juvenile court.
- Investigators and court documents state the child retrieved a loaded handgun hidden under a mattress and told police he had known the gun’s location and had handled it before.
- The infant’s father, 19-year-old Ca’Marion Pawnell, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and multiple counts of child endangerment after prosecutors say he admitted the gun belonged to him and that he stored it beneath the mattress.
- The case has focused attention on safe-gun storage and on how Missouri’s juvenile system handles very young defendants, with possible outcomes ranging from juvenile probation to commitment to state youth services until adulthood.