Authorities say the girl died as a result of a single gunshot to the arm which then entered her chest.
The call was initially issued as a 911 hang-up call with no answer on call back from Spalding County dispatch.
The true nature of the emergency wasn’t learned by officials until they arrived on the scene to investigate.
The girl, who will remain unidentified by The Griffin Daily News until remaining relatives are notified, was transported by LifeFlight to the emergency room of Atlanta Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
One 16-year-old boy was taken into custody in the incident Saturday night and is being held in the Griffin Regional Youth Detention Center (RYDC).
“He’s been officially charged with murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18,” Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tony Ranieri said. “There may be additional charges possibly brought later.”
The suspect in the case is being held without bail.
“Right now, he’s charged as a juvenile. He’ll be officially charged as an adult (today),” Ranieri said Sunday. “He’ll be brought to the Spalding County Jail for the purpose of fingerprinting, and being photographed and processed as an adult, but he’ll then be returned to the RYDC. We can’t house juveniles in our (jail) facility.”
A second 16-year-old male, a friend of the suspect who also was in the residence at the time of the shooting, said, “I was on the computer, on MySpace, and all I heard was, ‘Boom!’ My friend came running out and said, ‘She shot herself!’”
The suspect’s friend said the suspect allegedly claimed later that the shooting was accidental.
“He (the suspect) went and called 911 and I just left to try to find her friend,” said the friend, referring to a second female who had been at the residence earlier in the evening.
Deputies from the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office spent Saturday night searching the area for the missing weapon, which was not recovered.
Sunday morning saw one dozen members of the Pike-Spalding Underwater Evidence Recovery Team respond to the scene to perform a second search for the weapon, which also proved to be unsuccessful.
“Until we answer the questions regarding this gun, we won’t know about additional charges,” Ranieri said. “It’s possible charges may be brought against others who were in the residence at the time of the incident, not involving the shooting, but regarding the gun.”
Ranieri said anyone with information about the incident should contact the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at 770-227-9406.
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