Apr. 28—HANOVER TWP. — Police in Hanover Township say they charged Phillicia S. Brantley, 38, and petitioned a 12-year-old boy to Luzerne County Juvenile Court for the gunshot death of her 8-year-old daughter in December.
Police said Brantley left her residence in the 500 block of Fellows Avenue leaving her children unsupervised when the 12-year-old boy picked up a .380-caliber handgun from an unlocked gun case on Dec. 9, 2024.
The boy was playing with the firearm when it discharged a round that fatally struck the 8-year-old girl who was sleeping, police reported.
The 12-year-old boy was charged in juvenile court on manslaughter and assault offenses while Brantley is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Police recovered the firearm from a coffee table on the second floor of the residence and a spent projectile on the floor of the girl’s bedroom, according to a search warrant.
The boy told police, the search warrant affidavit says, he partially opened the gun case and began playing with the firearm when it accidentally fired.
Police in the search warrant say they recovered a gun case that was secured with a gun lock from a dresser drawer on the third floor of the residence.