Keon Martavious Thornhill allegedly shot and killed his 14-year-old sister Brianna. (Mugshot: Miami-Dade County)
A Florida man fatally shot his 14-year-old sister in the face, in a tragedy that he initially passed off as a self-inflicted wound, authorities allege. Keon Martavious Thornhill, 19, was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday for murder in the second degree with a weapon, records show.
Officers did not identify the victim, but family identified her as Brianna, according to WSVN.
Police in Opa-Locka, Florida, responded to the a disturbance regarding a man knocking on doors, according to the arrest affidavit. It was Thursday at approximately 12:08 a.m. ET. Officers say that they arrived to find the man outside of the home. He said his sister was bleeding inside, as they recounted. Cops found the child inside with an apparent gunshot wound to her face.
“The defendant spontaneously stated that he was involved in a verbal dispute with the victim, and he went to his room on the second floor and retrieved a firearm,” police said. “The defendant then went downstairs with the firearm, stating that he had cleared it and handed it to the victim. The defendant further stated that the victim shot herself in the face.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue pronounced her dead at 12:27 a.m. ET. Thornhill eventually admitted to shooting his sister, officers said.
“While the defendant was being detained, he stated several times to officers on scene, ‘I shot her. It was a mistake. Take me in,'” officers said.
Cops took him to Miami-Dade Police Department headquarters. There, he allegedly gave several different versions of how the shooting happened.
“My daughter was a wonderful person,” the mother of both teenagers told CBS4. “She was very respectful, she was a sweet girl, my baby girl, and now she is gone. She meant the world to us and we are heartbroken.”
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