Mother charged after 6-year-old daughter is killed with unsecured gun on Detroit’s east side

DETROIT – A Detroit mom is facing safe storage and child abuse charges after her 6-year-old daughter was killed in an accidental shooting.

The shooting happened at about noon, Monday, March 2, at the parking lot of a shopping plaza near Gratiot and Harper avenues.

Read: Grandmother seeks answers after 6-year-old killed in car with unsecured gun outside Detroit shopping plaza

The mother reportedly left her five children -- ages 2 to 11 years old -- unattended in the car while she went inside a store. Police believe her 11-year-old son found an unsecured handgun in the vehicle and fired it, hitting his 6-year-old sister in the head.

First responders rushed the girl to a hospital, where she died from her injuries.

On Thursday, March 5, Tonya Charisse-Annice Johnson was charged with safe storage violations -- premises under individual’s control -- minor present and inflicted death upon self or another, three counts of second-degree child abuse and four counts of felony firearm.