Victoria Irene Whitehurst was a six-year-old girl from Pinetown, North Carolina, who died on January 3, 2017, after being fatally wounded by a shotgun that discharged while she was visiting relatives. She was with an 11-year-old cousin and a 12-year-old girl at the time; the 11-year-old was showing off a shotgun he had received as a Christmas present when the gun accidentally went off. A family dog suffered minor injuries in the incident.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office found firearms in the home were not properly stored and were readily accessible to the children. Charges were filed: Bambi Dickerson was charged with misdemeanor failure to store a firearm to protect a minor and was arrested and released on bond, and Jerry Lee Dickerson Jr. was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and was arrested. Authorities said children had previously been known to handle weapons in the residence, and the investigation was ongoing; additional charges were considered unlikely unless new information emerged.

Did anyone in the community know about unsecured firearms in that household or the children’s access to them?