Another Ohio child died in a gun accident today. 

12-year old Lidia Ghide of Reynoldsburg, Ohio was inside her apartment when she was shot in the back.  Her neighbor, 42-year old Eric Carpenter, was cleaning a gun when it fired.  The bullet passed through Carpenter’s front door and into Ghide’s apartment.

Carpenter was arrested and charged with negligent homicide. 

UPDATE: July 13, 2021

Carpenter pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide. He was sentenced to 180 days in the Fairfield County Jail, along with 500 hours of community service to be served before July 13, 2022. He was sentenced to five years of community control, with a GPS monitor required. Carpenter will not be permitted to own any firearms, nor will any be allowed in his residence, car, or any property he owns.

“The true tragedy of this crime is the extinguishing of a light in this world, the loss of Lidia Ghide. It makes the defendant’s conduct even more serious because of the age of the victim,” the Prosecutor said. “I’d like to focus on her short life, which is much more important than her death, which was caused by the reckless lack of gun safety.”

Sources:

Bethany Bruner, “Police: 12-year-old Girl Fatally Shot by Southeast Side Neighbor Cleaning Gun,” The Columbus Dispatch (December 3, 2020).

For the Update: Barrett Lawlis, “Columbus Man Sentenced for Reckless Homicide in Shooting Death of 12-year-old,” Lancaster Eagle-Gazette (July 13, 2021).