MESA, Ariz. — Mesa police say officers have booked a 16-year-old boy on manslaughter charges after a shooting near Superstition Springs Mall that killed a 20-year-old woman on Monday.
While initial calls said that the woman was hit by a bullet that came through the front windshield, investigators found evidence that the gun had been fired from the back seat of the vehicle.
The boy told officers that he'd been "playing" with a handgun in the back seat and accidentally pulled the trigger, police say.
The bullet went through the back of the front passenger seat, striking 20-year-old Elena Hernandez.
Hernandez was taken to the hospital where she later died of her injuries.
Mesa police say the teenage suspect was taken into custody and booked into the Durango Juvenile Detenction Center on charges of Manslaughter, Minor in Possession of a Firearm, Tampering with Physical Evidence, and Unlawful Discharge of a Firearm.
This is a developing story and more details will be published as they become available.
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