Carmen E. Simmons, 18, was found with a gunshot wound to the face at a Forrest Street residence in Christiana, Tennessee, on the evening of March 13, 2019. Murfreesboro officers arrived about 9:45 p.m.; she was taken to Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital and pronounced dead. The autopsy found a gunshot wound to the head as the cause of death.

Investigators interviewed witnesses as they worked to determine how the fatal shot occurred. An 18-year-old, Deonate Maurice Wade of Murfreesboro, who was performing CPR on Carmen when officers arrived, turned himself in on April 11, 2019, and was charged with reckless homicide. Wade told police the shooting was accidental, saying Carmen picked up the gun and it discharged; the firearm was reportedly found on a couch in the home. Wade was held on a $500,000 bond.

What details about that night might help clarify whether the shooting was accidental or criminal? If anyone has information about Carmen’s last hours or the residence on Forrest Street, please share it with investigators.