A routine grocery stop on the afternoon of Sunday, February 27, 2022, ended in tragedy in a Publix parking lot on Panola Road in Lithonia, Georgia. Four-year-old Miyell Hernandez was sitting in a vehicle with his infant sister and a 13-year-old relative while their mother briefly went into the store to buy a birthday cake. Somehow Miyell found a handgun that had been left unsecured in the car and a single, accidental shot was fired. The teenager ran into the store to alert the mother and get help. Miyell was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead from the self-inflicted injury.

The DeKalb County Police Department’s Homicide and Assault Unit investigated the shooting; law enforcement said no charges had been filed at that time. The family said they were unaware a gun was in the vehicle. The case prompted the police to hold a gun safety event and distribute free gun locks in the community. Anyone with information about what happened that afternoon is asked to come forward.