Mariah Davis was five years old when she died on May 10, 2016, at her grandparents’ home on Oakfield Street in Detroit. She took the firearm into a room where her three-year-old and one-year-old siblings were present and, while handling it, turned the weapon on herself and fired one shot, striking her neck. Mariah was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead; the other children were physically unharmed.

Mariah’s grandparents, Frederick Davis and Patricia McNeal, were taken into custody and charged by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree child abuse, and felony firearm possession. Frederick Davis faced an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The family and community held a vigil remembering Mariah’s love of singing and dancing.

What information do readers have about safety measures or storage practices in similar cases that could help prevent tragedies like this?