On July 29, 2015, three-year-old Dalis Cox was fatally shot in a second-floor apartment in the 600 block of 46th Place SE in Benning Terrace, Washington, D.C. According to police, children in the apartment found a handgun that had not been registered, and Dalis was accidentally shot in the chest by her seven-year-old brother. Officers who heard the shot and screams transported Dalis to a nearby hospital in a squad car; she died about 90 minutes later.

Investigators focused on how an illegal, unregistered firearm came into a home with young children. In August 2015, a 17-year-old male was arrested and charged; his name was not released because he was to be tried as a juvenile. Initial charges included first-degree cruelty to a child (later specified as second-degree cruelty) and three gun-related counts for possession of an unregistered handgun and ammunition. Family members described Dalis as the father’s life and soul and called the death a tragic accident; city officials said the weapon should not have been accessible to the children.

If anyone has information about how the handgun entered that home or remembers the events that night, please share what is known.