Nineteen-year-old Ladarius De’Juan Whiteside was killed in Fairfield, Alabama, after a firearm discharged inside a private residence on the night of Sunday, October 28, 2018. He was struck in the head by a single bullet and taken to a local hospital, where he died in the early hours of Monday, October 29, 2018.

Police investigators reported the group of friends present had been handling firearms and described the shooting as accidental. The person who fired the weapon was identified as 19-year-old friend Xavier Thompson. Although authorities characterized the shot as unintentional, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office obtained a warrant charging Thompson with manslaughter, and he was arrested on October 29, 2018.

Anyone who was at the residence that evening or has information about the events leading up to the shooting is asked to come forward.