On the evening of February 24, 2023, 12-year-old Malayshia Solomon was fatally wounded by a gunshot inside her family home on Monroe Street in Lynchburg, Virginia. Malayshia was in the kitchen with her mother, Karita Winston, and Winston’s boyfriend when the shooting occurred. A 15-year-old brother, Marquel, had been playing with a friend using a gel pellet blaster; witnesses say he then produced his mother’s handgun and threatened the friend. As Winston’s boyfriend tried to take the gun from Marquel, it discharged and a single bullet struck Malayshia in the abdomen. She was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where she later died.

Investigators later charged family members. In March 2024 Winston was indicted on felony child abuse and neglect and child endangerment; she had posted a social media video about an hour before the shooting showing people, including two boys, singing and dancing while holding firearms, and three guns were visible though only two were recovered. Winston pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse and neglect. Marquel was charged with involuntary manslaughter; his first trial in August 2024 ended in a mistrial and a retrial was scheduled for February 2025.

Are there details about the household or timeline that could help clarify how three firearms were present and why only two were recovered?