Marlena Virginia Alvirez was 13 when she was fatally shot inside her family home in the 1700 block of West Avenue J-15 in Lancaster on August 13, 2019.

Eddie Alvirez was charged with involuntary manslaughter and discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, with enhancements for personal use of a handgun and inflicting great bodily injury. He fled on foot after the shooting but surrendered the next day; the DA requested $75,000 bail and carried a potential sentence up to 14 years if convicted. Family members said the mother was not home and the grandmother was present; relatives publicly urged Eddie to turn himself in, and his mother described the shooting as accidental.

What details about the moments before the shooting or the handling of the firearm might help explain how this happened, and can anyone in Lancaster shed light on the family’s movements that day?