PETERSBURG, Va. — A Petersburg mother is free on bond after police say her 11-year-old son got ahold of a loaded gun and fatally shot his 6-year-old sister.
The 11-year-old remains in custody and is charged with manslaughter in the death of his younger sibling.
Family members identified the 6-year-old girl as Ka’Niya Noel Burford Adkins. She died March 10. Balloons and flowers now sit outside the apartment where she was shot.
Her mother, 30-year-old Natalie Burford, was charged this week with three counts of felony abuse and neglect, and one misdemeanor of allowing access to a firearm by children under the age of 14.
Burford is due back in Juvenile Domestic Relations Court on June 18.
Tim Anderson, a defense attorney not connected to this case and who has also served as a prosecutor, said an 11-year-old facing a manslaughter charge does not happen often in Virginia.
"That is because 11-year olds are presumed to not necessarily understand right from wrong" Anderson said.
He said prosecutors will have to prove in court that the 11-year-old understood his actions.
"The prosecutor has to overcome not just that the crime occurred but the child intended and knowingly committed the crime with the understanding of the right and wrongfulness of it," Anderson said. "The defense's argument should probably be right out of the gate, is that the child doesn’t understand right and wrong."
In Virginia, an 11-year-old cannot be charged as an adult. Anderson said a person must be at least 14 to be considered an adult in the Commonwealth.
"The maximum punishment a juvenile can receive in Virginia for any violent felony that is in juvenile court would be confinement until their 21st birthday in a juvenile detention center," Anderson said. "I don’t forsee this child probably getting even confinement. This is more about providing the child services."
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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