647
submitted 11 months ago by deconstruct@lemm.ee to c/news@lemmy.world

Warning: Article has detailed accounts of the shooting

Breanna Gayle Devall Runions, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Evangaline Gunter.

The child’s parents, Adam and Josie Gunter, told ABC affiliate WATE that Evangaline had been in temporary custody at a home in Rockwood, which Runions shared with girlfriend Christina Daniels and another child, a 7-year-old girl.

Before the shooting, Evangaline and the older girl were being punished that morning by Runions for not waking up the women and for eating Daniels’ food without permission, according to the warrant and a statement from Russell Johnson, district attorney general for Tennessee’s 9th Judicial District. Runions struck both girls with a sandal before forcing them to stand in different corners of the women’s bedroom, authorities said the older girl told them.

After the shooting, the women drove Evangaline to a nearby Walmart location to meet an ambulance, Roane County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Boduch told the Roane County News, and the vehicle transported the girl to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Boduch could not immediately be reached by HuffPost.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 124 points 11 months ago

Runions pressed the barrel of the gun against the child’s chest and pulled the trigger, police said she told them.

Daniels told police that she saw Runions take out the gun, remove its magazine and put it to Evangaline’s chest, but she turned away and didn’t see her pull the trigger, according to the warrant.

This was a murder.

[-] dethb0y@lemmy.world 74 points 11 months ago

yeah it's 100% just a murder. probably she thinks by saying it's an "accident" she can either skate or get a manslaughter conviction instead of murder.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

people do forget about the chambered round all the time.

But. I ain't holding my breath, either.

[-] Im14abeer@midwest.social 11 points 11 months ago

And this is why the rule is every time you pick up/are handed a gun you check the chamber. Even if you just watched your buddy do it. Also, firearm safety for a four year old is "Stop, don't touch, tell an adult."

[-] FluorideMind@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

Yeah reaks of bullshit. I'd bet she was threatening the girl with what she thought was an unloaded gun, but surprise there is one in the chamber.

[-] Dkarma@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

That's a bingo. Probably not murder cuz of intent but manslaughter 5-10 is appropriate here imo ianal

[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 0 points 11 months ago

threatening the girl with what she thought was an unloaded gun

Fortunately for this monster and unfortunately for people who have the sense not to point guns at children, if she thought the gun was unloaded then she doesn't have the premeditation needed to make the first degree murder charge stick.

[-] JoBo@feddit.uk 8 points 11 months ago

They do. Which is why you never point a gun at someone, let alone pull the trigger. It's an entirely implausible excuse because what she did has nothing to do with teaching gun safety.

It may or may not have been an acccident but it happened because she was bullying the child. Whether proving that level of intent is enough to prove murder (in the US), I don't know. But at the very least it is an extremely serious form of manslaughter so the difference is probably negligible in terms of conviction and sentencing (unless they can prove that it was an entirely deliberate and intentional murder).

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

There is no doubt that she was fundamentally responsible for that kids death. And I'm not holding my breath out that it was an "accident". But people are absolutely that dumb. Either way... she should have the book thrown at her.

[-] loutr@sh.itjust.works 6 points 11 months ago

people do forget about the chambered round all the time.

all the time?? And y'all still are having debates on whether it might be time to maybe start looking at how you may act on the issue? America seems fucking crazy from the outside looking in...

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Yup. All the time.

And yes, I’m all for gun control. The sad thing is these people vote.

[-] dan1101@lemm.ee 16 points 11 months ago

Yes, what the hell kind of gun safety lesson was that? Here is exactly what NOT to ever do.

[-] ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 11 months ago

"Here kid, don't do exactly this or you'll Alec Baldwin someone."

Tries to "teach gun safety" by breaking all 4 major gun safety rules at once

Yeah, not buying her story lol.

[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago

You could say her gun safety knowledge was a little bit...

...Rusty...

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
647 points (96.3% liked)

News

22488 readers
3922 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS