Two Detroit children shot in one evening

13-year-old girl killed in what police are calling accidental shooting; 5-year-old boy injured when shots fired at house

DETROIT – Within the 10 minutes it took for an adult to leave a home on Detroit's east side to pick up pizzas, the children left at the home found a loaded rifle which led to the deadly shooting of a teen girl.

Cirla Bingham, 13, was fatally shot in the head.

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"My auntie was here. They was not left unattended no longer than 10 minutes. She went up the street on Kelly to get some Little Caesars, came back and the kids were screaming," said Ebony Wadley, who is the cousin of the teen's 14-year-old boyfriend.

The teen was at the home with her two younger brothers. It's where she often went to be with her 14-year-old boyfriend. His home is just two blocks from their school, Regent Park Scholars. Now, that boyfriend's father is in custody for being a convicted felon with a gun.

Bingham was shot in a bedroom. Police are calling it a tragic accident.

"(The gun) was put up ... wherever it was found, it was put up. It wasn't supposed to even be touched at all," said Wadley.

Just 8 miles west of this shooting, and at about the same time Tuesday evening, a 5-year-old boy name Donovan Lyles Jr. was shot in his eye as he was sitting on the floor watching cartoons. The shot entered the home through a window, then traveled through a couch before hitting Donovan. The bullet was left lodged in the wall.

Donovan lost his eye.

"I heard a loud pop and I heard screaming. I came upstairs and my grandson was in my daughter's arms. He lost his eye but he's coherent and he's alert, and he's going to be alright," said the boy's grandfather, Jerome Brazelton.


About the Author:

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.