Weeks after a 4-year-old girl was fatally shot by her brother with an unsecured gun at a home in northwest Miami-Dade, the girl's mother is now facing charges.
Krystal Marie Banegas, 24, is being charged with aggravated manslaughter and several counts of child neglect, according to court records filed in Miami-Dade on Tuesday.
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WATCH HEREBanegas was booked into jail early Wednesday, and was being held on an $800,000 bond, records showed.
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Quavanta Demettris Ennels, 25, who was arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after the shooting, is also now facing manslaughter and child neglect charges in the incident, court records showed.
A judge referred to Ennels as Benegas’ boyfriend in court.
The shooting happened back on Nov. 5 at a home near Northwest 21st Avenue and Northwest 81st Street in West Little River.
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Police and fire rescue workers responded to the home and found the 4-year-old shot in the head. She was rushed to the hospital but died four days later.
In a GoFundMe after her death, Banegas identified the girl as Josalyn Marie Taylor-Rolle, who was known to her family as Baby J.
Miami-Dade Police Det. Andre Martin said four children - ages 6, 4, 3 and 2 - were in the home along with an adult at the time of the incident.
According to an arrest report, the girl and her siblings were in a bedroom where Ennels said the gun was kept in his bookbag. A sibling pulled out the gun and discharged it, hitting the girl in the head, the report said.
The arrest warrant for Ennels says two of the 4-year-old’s brothers said Ennels placed the gun on a table, contradicting Ennels' claim that the gun was in a bookbag.
"The firearm was stored in an unsecure manner which is how a small child was able to access it," Martin said.
Ennels appeared in bond court in Miami-Dade Tuesday afternoon. He has a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.
