PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A 16-year-old girl is dead after being shot in the chest by a 16-year-old boy Sunday morning.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Ezequiel Torres snuck out of his house to go to Raynie Michelle-Marie Dettmann's house on Pine Avenue in Pomona Park.
Deputies said around 4:30 a.m. Torres picked up a shotgun, playfully pointed it at two other people, then at Dettmann before pulling the trigger.
Dettmann was struck in the chest. According to deputies, the witnesses called 911 while Torres applied pressure to her wound.
Dettmann was taken to the Putnam Community Medical Center, where she died, deputies said."
After an interview with officials, Torres was arrested and charged with one count of negligent homicide and one count of committing a second-degree felony with a firearm.
Officials said no adults were at home at the time of the shooting.
"You would think a 16-year-old would know better than to pick up a gun and start aiming it at people. Whether they're playing or not, that's not something to do," a neighbor said. "I mean, they teach you in schools, you see it in the news, you see it on TV. You should know better, and it's just a tragic shame."
People who knew Raynie Dettman said she was a very sweet girl who was planning to enroll in the military.
Her cousin said she was a vibrant 16-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. She said Dettmann had a heart of gold and would have done anything for anyone.
Neighbors who live nearby were shocked to hear what happened.
"It's a tragedy -- kids left home alone like that," said Angela DiCarlo, who lives in the neighborhood. "I have two children myself and to think that that could happen to any of them, you just don't know and for a gun to be in their range like that, that's just sad. Speak to your children. Tell them it's not right. No. 1, don't put the guns in their range; No. 2, if they are in the range, teach them about guns. At least teach them about them, so they know don't play with them, don't handle them."