Destiny McNichols was 14 when she was fatally shot on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at the Sierra Forest Apartments on Mableton Parkway in Mableton, Georgia. Witnesses reported hearing a single gunshot and the boy crying out that he had shot her by accident. Destiny was found in a breezeway with a gunshot wound; responders performed CPR before she was taken to a local hospital and then to a children’s healthcare facility, where she died.

Destiny was a student at Lindley Middle School and was remembered by classmates for her bright smile. The boy who fired the gun was 11 and a family friend; he was charged in juvenile court with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. The gun’s owner, his stepfather Jahleel Brown, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct after investigators said the boy had found the handgun in a bedroom.

What details about Destiny’s life or the apartment complex might help explain how the gun was accessible?