By Nigel Boys
When 9-year-old Kimberly Reylander and her 3-year-old brother visited the home of their great-grandfather on Saturday morning, he didn’t know they were coming, so didn’t think to put away a pistol he kept on his nightstand in Irondale, Alabama.
However, it turned out to be a fatal mistake for Kimberley, when her younger brother found the loaded pistol, pointed it towards her and pulled the trigger, hitting her in the head, WIAT reports.
“Her grandma was laying the towel on her head and laid down there and started praying, she was praying, I was praying, my wife was screaming and praying,” said Kimberley’s grandfather, Joel Watson. “Nobody knows how that feels until you experience it,” he added.
The Daily Mail reported that Irondale Police Chief, Ken Atkinson, said that the children’s great-grandfather had not known they were coming over for a visit, so had not taken the precaution of putting his handgun away. He added that despite attempts at the Children’s of Alabama hospital to save the young girl’s life, after she had been flown there, she succumb to her injuries and died.
Although the children’s grandmother and uncle, whom police are interviewing about the tragic accident, were home at the time of the shooting, the great-grandfather was not and they were unaware a gun had been left in the room where the children were playing, said Atkinson. “It appears to be a tragic accident,” he added.
“I came in and when I came in the door, my son came out and said she had been shot,” said Watson of the shooting which happened on Monroe Drive around 2 p.m. Kimberley was apparently sitting on the floor of the bedroom, which is about 14 miles outside of Birmingham. The two children lived nearby the scene of the accident with their mother.
“She was a beautiful child, straight A student, she loved God, she loved singing at church, she was just a precious angel,” Watson told WBRC. “You know, I’ve always had this thought that this could only happen to someone else, you know you only hear about these things, but when it hits home it’s hard,” he added.
Kimberley, who was described as her “Mommy and Daddy’s little angel” in her obituary, which added “she was a gifted singer and artist,” was remembered by other relatives as being a smart young girl who was sweet and artistic.
Chrissy Coblentz, who lives next door to Kimberly’s great-grandparents, said the young girl often played with her kids. A GoFundMe Page set up by the neighbor, to pay for Kimberly’s funeral expenses, had raised $4,255 of a $5,000 goal by 80 people in 1 day.
Kimberly’s visitation will take place on Tuesday at the Ridout Funeral Home in Trussville from 5 to 7 p.m. The funeral will take place at the same location the following day at 1 p.m.
Detective Michael Mangina of the Irondale Police Department, said that they are wrapping up their investigation into the death of Reylander and at this time, they do not anticipate any charges will be filed.
It was discovered that shooting by toddlers are more common that you would expect, according to a Washington Post survey conducted in the fall.
The survey found that during the first 10 months of 2014, instances of someone being shot by a child of 3-year-old or younger, amounted to a staggering 43. Of the 15 shootings which turned out to be fatal, the number of toddlers who had accidentally shot and killed themselves, numbered 13.
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