7-Year-Old NC Girl Dies After Shot In Head, Uncle Charged

GASTONIA, NC — A Charlotte man has been charged with second-degree murder following the death of his 7-year-old niece one week after she was accidentally shot in the head when her uncle fired a weapon while filming a rap video inside a Gastonia home, according to reports.

According to a Gastonia Police Department account, the child was shot around 7:15 p.m. on April 13 in a home in the 1200 block of Ware Avenue in Gastonia, about 20 miles west of Charlotte.

The girl was taken to Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte for treatment. She later died from those injuries on April 20, according to reports.

Following the incident, GPD arrested Jeremy Quintrel Lewis, 30, of Charlotte and initially charged him with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, discharging a weapon into an occupied property causing serious bodily injury and possession of a firearm by a felon, WBTV reported.

His charges were upgraded Tuesday to include second-degree murder following the girl's death, the station said.

Witnesses told police that at the time of the shooting, a rap music video was being filmed in the home, and that the homeowner handed the gun to Lewis, WSPA reported. He then fired the weapon, which sent a bullet through a wall, striking his niece, the station said.

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