Warning: Article has detailed accounts of the shooting
Breanna Gayle Devall Runions, 25, was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Evangaline Gunter.
The child’s parents, Adam and Josie Gunter, told ABC affiliate WATE that Evangaline had been in temporary custody at a home in Rockwood, which Runions shared with girlfriend Christina Daniels and another child, a 7-year-old girl.
Before the shooting, Evangaline and the older girl were being punished that morning by Runions for not waking up the women and for eating Daniels’ food without permission, according to the warrant and a statement from Russell Johnson, district attorney general for Tennessee’s 9th Judicial District. Runions struck both girls with a sandal before forcing them to stand in different corners of the women’s bedroom, authorities said the older girl told them.
After the shooting, the women drove Evangaline to a nearby Walmart location to meet an ambulance, Roane County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Boduch told the Roane County News, and the vehicle transported the girl to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Boduch could not immediately be reached by HuffPost.
Runions pressed the barrel of the gun against the child’s chest and pulled the trigger, police said she told them.
Daniels told police that she saw Runions take out the gun, remove its magazine and put it to Evangaline’s chest, but she turned away and didn’t see her pull the trigger, according to the warrant.
This was a murder.
yeah it’s 100% just a murder. probably she thinks by saying it’s an “accident” she can either skate or get a manslaughter conviction instead of murder.
people do forget about the chambered round all the time.
But. I ain’t holding my breath, either.
people do forget about the chambered round all the time.
all the time?? And y’all still are having debates on whether it might be time to maybe start looking at how you may act on the issue? America seems fucking crazy from the outside looking in…
They do. Which is why you never point a gun at someone, let alone pull the trigger. It’s an entirely implausible excuse because what she did has nothing to do with teaching gun safety.
It may or may not have been an acccident but it happened because she was bullying the child. Whether proving that level of intent is enough to prove murder (in the US), I don’t know. But at the very least it is an extremely serious form of manslaughter so the difference is probably negligible in terms of conviction and sentencing (unless they can prove that it was an entirely deliberate and intentional murder).
There is no doubt that she was fundamentally responsible for that kids death. And I’m not holding my breath out that it was an “accident”. But people are absolutely that dumb. Either way… she should have the book thrown at her.
were being punished that morning by Runions for not waking up the women and for eating Daniels’ food without permission
Any time a young child is in trouble for eating someone’s food, it is a huge red flag.
Any time a child is responsible for an adult’s schedule, it is a huge red flag.
This article is about child abuse that lead to murder.
Tragic
The headline really fucking buried the lede. This is not a story about a firearms instructor accidentally shooting someone. This is a story about extreme child abuse.
What kind of legitimate firearm instructor would allow a 4 year old to hold a gun. This was always about Child Abuse.
Did you miss the part where it described the actual abuse? Like, you don’t need to do much guessing to find out they were being abused.
Runions struck both girls with a sandal before forcing them to stand in different corners of the women’s bedroom
Why was she
in temporary custody at a home in Rockwood
what does that even mean?? It makes it sound like she was being held there without consent, but she’s a child and no kidnapping is mentioned, so who put here there? What relation was the killer to the child? Where were her parents?
The full article mentions the child had been placed there by a “court decision” so it sounds like the parents may have temporarily lost custody.
I appreciate the info, thanks.
That raises so many other questions though, none will help make this case any less horrible, but it just feels like so many people failed this poor child in her short life (potentially her parents, but also whoever placed her in this situation and failed to ensure her safety), but probably only one will pay…
The whole article describes a strange situation. The “adults” where mad at the kids for not waking them and eating their food. Like what is even going on over here?
Eh… It could simply be that they were keeping her for the week while the parents weren’t available or something, no need to panic…
A child was murdered and I’m asking for clarification.
Who the fuck is panicking? Why even respond that way, how is it helpful?Do I really need to quote your reply I was replying to or you’re able to scroll up a bit?
Lol, the post is literally just asking questions, questions which I know many here want to be answered. No indication of panicking was ever in there.
“makes it sound like she was being held without her consent”
That’s the first thing you think about when seeing “temporary custody”? Having custody of someone means you’re the person who has the responsibility of taking care of them. OP even used the word kidnapping in their post.
Heck, a babysitter has temporary custody of the kids she’s taking care of, why would OP not think about that first?
Yeah idk, I grew up in an abusive home (foster care, etc) and they never shot me in the chest. I think owning a gun was a factor here.
This is reason #9,278 why conservatives should not be allowed near children.
And reason #53759742269743 why guns should be extremely restricted.
Wtf does this article have to do with conservatives? Liberals and swing voters own guns too, you know.
Liberals have guns, but liberals aren’t stupid enough to point a gun at a child. It’s extremely obvious to everyone except conservatives that this woman is a conservative.
Cause there are no stupid liberals…
You really need to
touch grassmeet a few people. Stupidity spans both sides and all political spectrums.This is the kind of lazy comment I would expect to see here. It makes me go back to Reddit. What are you, 14?
And this is coming from a liberal
You fail to realise that this isn’t a matter of liberals vs. conservatives, it’s the fact that guns themselves are stupid and legislation rewarding that is archaic and dangerous in the U.S.
Perhaps liberals would be less likely to show off firearms, much less teach how to use them, to a four years old.
Every gun owner thinks they’re a responsible gun owner.
Can’t argue, she is responsible for this.
Kind of like every dog owner. Except that most dogs have redeeming value.
Very upsetting story. This young girl was failed by every adult in her life.
Just another reason why not every idiot and his uncle should be allowed to own a firearm.
temporary custody
Why is it next to impossible for people to get approved to adopt, but any asshole can become a foster parent? I think you need more in-depth screenings to adopt from pet rescues. If the US is going to force pregnancy on people, then they really need to get a handle on the foster system. Because it’s always about “protecting the children,” right?
For people who, like me, saw the gap between “teaching firearm safety” and first degree murder, the method outlined in the article for teaching firearm safety seemed to involve putting the barrel of the gun to the child’s chest and pulling the trigger. The witness, the other child living in the home, says that the killer did pull the magazine before the ‘safety lesson’ though. Technically this might make premeditation difficult to prove and could hinder a first degree murder conviction but I also think that a jury will figure out some way to make this monster go away forever regardless of what the letter of the law says.
There is a serious issue with child abuse here.
But, if you can correctly guess the country where this occurred before reading the locale in the article, then it’s a telling point about how famous the idiots+guns connection is in exactly one affluent country while still being a tangent.
I’m guessing Texas?
They haven’t gotten their way yet, I’d guess the country is USA USA USA
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Read the article. There was no firearms instructor.
Was gonna come in here to say “The first rule of gun safety is your gun is always loaded, even if you cleared it and the safety is on, so barrels don’t get pointed at anything you don’t want to die”.
This still applies here, but the situation had nothing to do with teaching a kid. Now that kid is dead. So fucked…
Mean while kids getting shot everyday in strict gun law Chicago and no one cares. Accidents happen. Kids die taking swimming lessons. Statistically this is a non issue.
