A 17-year-old Alabama boy has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death last month of his 12-year-old brother, AL.com reported.
Bessemer police said they responded to a call on March 30 and found Sean Rose with a bullet wound to the head. He was taken to Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, where he was pronounced dead.
Police initially took the teen into custody for questioning, but he was released later in the evening when it appeared that Sean and his brother had been playing with the gun when it went off, striking the 12-year-old.
Lt. Christian Clemons said Friday, however, that forensics investigation and witness interviews led police to believe the 17-year-old had been handling the gun recklessly, leading to the charge in Jefferson County Family Court’s Bessemer Division.
Clemons also said that another 17–year-old — a friend of the family — has been charged with first-degree arson and first-degree criminal mischief for an April 2 incident in which he allegedly set fire to a vacant car outside the house where Sean was killed and used an accelerant to try to set fire to the home.
Detectives are continuing their investigations, Clemons said, to determine if there’s any connection between the two incidents.
Neither 17-year-old will be named because they are both charged as juveniles.
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