Georgia police say a 17-year-old boy faces a felony murder charge after allegedly shooting his twin brother in the face.
Xavier Hayes was arrested and booked in DeKalb County Jail on charges of murder and aggravated assault. His brother, 17-year-old Dimitri Hayes, was pronounced dead at a hospital, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
Initially, authorities described the shooting as “accidental.”
“It looks like one brother shot the other brother, he was just pronounced deceased,” said DeKalb County Police Sgt. Lynn Shuler.
Three DeKalb County police patrol units were investigating the scene around 5 a.m. Monday in front of a home located on Young Knoll Street.
In the earlier investigation stage, police said the brothers were playing with a gun in their bedroom at around 3:30 a.m., and they didn’t realize the gun was loaded.
“It’s a black semi-automatic weapon handgun,” said Sgt. Shuler.
The gun discharged and hit one boy in the face, killing him.
“Two 17-year-old boys living in the house they share a bedroom,” said Sgt. Shuler. “They were playing with a gun, thought it was unloaded, it was not.”
Police interviewed the surviving teen; however, it’s unclear what evidence led to police charging the teen with murder.
