How 17 Year Old Shot His Sister on His Birthday

Martaevious Santiago, 17, reportedly pointed a loaded semi-automatic handgun at his sister Tedra King, 13 as she turned away after giving him a hug in the kitchen of the family’s Florida City home, pulled the trigger and killed her. He was charged with manslaughter.

Daily Mail reports that his stepfather, Vernon Williams, says he can’t fault anyone for the shooting, but it is a great loss to their family.

Martaevious already had a very violent history of gun violence even before the Tuesday night tragedy. Radio station WLRN, in a series about young gun violence survivors,  stated that that he had been to jail 18 times, mostly for robberies. In December, Martaevious was shot in the leg in his driveway, while his friend was shot in the head and nearly died. Eleven months prior to that incident, his younger brother Martwan was shot four times, one bullet went through his spine and paralyzed him from the waist down.

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Martaevious said he got the gun from a 14-year-old friend who was not named, but was also arrested. It was unclear Wednesday exactly who was in the home just after 8 p.m. when Tedra was shot other than Martaevious and his friend. His step-father, Vernon, said he was at home during the shooting along side Tedra’s mother Lakesha Bess who was too distraught to give any comments.

Photo Credit: Daily Mail