7-Year-Old Girl Killed in Accidental Shooting in Milford Mill

Overview

• Baltimore County police said officers found 7-year-old Alayah Terrell with a gunshot wound inside a Selgrave Road home and that she was taken to a hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
• The shooting was reported around 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, and investigators have called the death accidental, said there is no active threat to the community, and noted adults were in the home.
• Police have not yet released details on how the gun was fired or whether charges will be filed and say the investigation remains active.
• Reporters and officials place the case in a pattern of recent child-involved shootings in the area, including a February self-inflicted death in Montgomery Village and a June D.C. death tied to an unsecured firearm.
• Maryland passed Jaelynn's Law in 2023 to raise penalties for accessible loaded guns, and a 2026 bill to require guns be locked unless in use failed this year, a policy backdrop that this latest death may bring back into focus.