Inset: Gabriel Osorio (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation). Background: The Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, W.Va. (Google Maps).
A teenager in West Virginia is behind bars after a child was shot to death inside a home earlier this week with an AR-style rifle, law enforcement in the Mountain State says.
Gabriel Osorio, 18, stands accused of child neglect resulting in death, according to the Oak Hill Police Department.
The incident occurred on Nov. 3 at a residence on Third Street in Oak Hill, a small city some 50 miles southeast of Charleston.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Officers arrived in response to a call about a gunshot injury and met with the teen, who “appeared distressed and was screaming for help,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by Lewisburg-based CBS and Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WVNS.
Investigators also saw a boy lying on his back in the front doorway of the house with blood on his head, the Oak Hill Police Department said.
An officer moved to render aid as other first responders were called to help, but to no avail. The child was rushed to one hospital, then flown to another, but died at the second location, police said.
Inside the house, investigators found what they described as an AR-style gun on top of a bed, according to the charging document.
During an initial interview with detectives, the defendant allegedly said the victim had been shot by another minor, according to the complaint. After that, investigators located two additional children across the street from the house and spoke with them before separating all the witnesses, police said.
After being read his Miranda rights, the defendant allegedly told police he invited the three minors over to the house while his stepmother was at the bank. Osorio set up a speaker in a bedroom so the minors could listen to music while hanging out, according to the charging document.
The defendant said one of the children found the gun — which he had just purchased a few days earlier — under the bed and took it out so the group could pose and take photos with it, police said. Osorio told investigators the rifle did not have a magazine loaded at the time.
Rather, the defendant said, the magazine was kept in a separate locked box, according to the charging document. At some point, however, one of the minors found a key to the box, unlocked it, and removed the magazine, Osorio allegedly told police. At this point, the defendant took the gun away from the minors and told them to leave the weapon alone, according to the charging document.
Later, Osorio was eating in the kitchen when a single shot was fired, according to the complaint. The defendant went into the bedroom and saw the injured child. He also said he saw another child throw the gun onto the bed, police said. Osorio allegedly said he first tried to stop the child who apparently fired the weapon from running away before heading back to the wounded child to render aid and call for help.
The defendant is currently detained in the Southern Regional Jail with no bond.
The post Child goes to hang out at friend’s home and gets shot to death with AR-style rifle while teen is eating in kitchen, police say first appeared on Law & Crime.
