A 21-year-old Michigan man has been charged in connection to the death of an 11-year-old girl who was struck by a stray bullet that entered a Detroit home last weekend.
According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, Detroit resident William Trifun Dickerson, 21, fired a handgun multiple times on the night of June 4 in the area of Goulburn Avenue and Collingham Drive. Dickerson was with a 17-year-old who also fired a weapon, officials said.
SEE ALSO: Two People Arrested In Death Of 11-Year-Old Girl Shot At Family Gathering In Michigan
A news release states that the weapons were fired in a backyard and a stray bullet entered the home that 11-year-old Saniyah Pugh was sleeping in. Pugh was struck by the bullet and ultimately died from her injuries.
Officials initially reported that there was a sleepover at Pugh’s house, but after a more detailed investigation, they say there wasn’t a sleepover at the house.
After reports of shooting in the Goulburn Avenue and Collingham Drive area, medics arrived to Pugh’s house and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Dickerson is being charged with the following charges:
- Second-degree murder,
- Involuntary manslaughter,
- Discharge at a building causing death,
- Careless discharge causing injury or death (a two-year misdemeanor), and
- Four counts of felony firearm.
“It doesn’t matter if you are shooting your gun off on New Year’s Eve or shooting at targets in your backyard,“ said Prosecutor Worthy in a news release. “The allegations, in this case, are yet another tragic reminder that a bullet has no eyes. Ever.”
Dickerson was arraigned at 10 a.m. Friday (June 10) and remanded to jail. His Probable Cause Conference is on June 24. His Preliminary Examination is on July 1 at 1:45 p.m.
The 17-year-old is expected to be charged, but charges will not be formalized until June 11.
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