On the evening of January 10, 2012, 12-year-old Carolyn Cee Cee Alberta Walker was shot and killed on Geneva Avenue in the Deep Creek neighborhood of Chesapeake, Virginia. Friends initially thought the sound was a firecracker; Cee Cee was found unresponsive with a fatal gunshot wound to her forehead and a faint pulse when a neighbor reached her.

Police focused on a 13-year-old boy who had been at the scene. He at first denied involvement, then admitted possessing the gun and told investigators he and Cee Cee had been playing Russian Roulette when it discharged. The firearm was recovered at the boy’s home. Cee Cee’s mother disputed that her daughter handled the weapon, and investigators found no fingerprints of Cee Cee on the gun. The gun had reportedly been given to the 13-year-old by another child without the owner’s knowledge or consent; no charges were filed against the owner or that child.

The teenager later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter; the judge committed him to the custody of the state Department of Juvenile Justice rather than granting probation. Cee Cee’s family has said they believe an adult should have been held accountable for the firearm’s accessibility. Did anyone in Deep Creek at the time see how the gun came into the boys’ possession or who was responsible for its storage?