An 11-year-old American boy has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly shooting dead a three- year-old neighbour in the US state of Michigan, media reported today.
The incident took place on Monday inside a vehicle parked behind a residence in Detroit.
The boy was visiting his father when he took out a handgun from the bedroom closet and threw it out of a window and into a backyard. After going outside and retrieving the firearm, he entered a vehicle in which victim Elijah Walker was sitting and allegedly shot him in the face for unknown reasons, according to police.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, who said the shooting was intentional, but without malice, charged the boy yesterday with manslaughter and felony use of a firearm.
He is being charged as a juvenile.
"I cannot remember a time where we have charged someone so young with taking a life. Very unfortunately and very tragically, the alleged facts in this case demanded it," Worthy was quoted as saying by The Huffington Post.
"The charged respondent here will remain in the juvenile system, but the case remains under investigation," the prosecutor said.
Meanwhile, family members of the victim are seeking donations on a fundraising site to help cover his funeral costs, who was the youngest of his mother's three children.
The juvenile, who has not yet appeared in court to enter a plea, is being held at a Detroit-area juvenile detention center.
