Eutta Phelps, 68, of Somerset, Kentucky, died on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, after a single gunshot wound struck her while she was a passenger in a vehicle. At the time, her 18-year-old grandson was driving and two other teenage relatives in the backseat were handling a muzzle-loading pistol. Believing the firearm to be unloaded, those youths were playing with it when it discharged and the shot fatally struck Phelps.

The driver stopped and called emergency services; Phelps was taken to a nearby hospital but did not survive. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office investigated and determined the shooting was accidental. No arrests or charges were publicly announced and the investigation centered on how the muzzle-loading pistol came to discharge. The family was described as deeply distraught by the event.

If anyone was in the area that day and saw the vehicle or has information about how the firearm came to be handled inside the car, please share what you know.