Another day, another reminder that kids plus guns equals tragedy. A 22-year-old South Carolina woman was killed while riding in the passenger seat of a friend's car yesterday, when that friend's six-year-old child accidentally shot her in the back, police told reporters. The child found the gun on the floorboard of the backseat of the Dodge SUV, and fired a bullet through the seat, into the chest of Alexandra Anita Santos. She was pronounced dead at 12:53pm, the Greenville News reports.
The child was one of three in the vehicle—the others were ages 3 and 5. None were related to Santos, though she does have a baby of her own. Santos' mother tells Fox Carolina that the child's mother originally tried to pin the killing on Santos' ex-boyfriend, telling Santos' mother he had shot Santos through the car. Santos' mom is furious over that deception. "You give any kind of access to a firearm to a six-year-old child, somebody needs to be responsible," she says. (More guns stories.)