13-Year-Old Girl Accused of Accidentally Shooting 11-Year-Old Boy in Face

The boy’s father, Martinez Castillo Lloyd, is charged with one count each of illegal possession of a firearm and improper storage of a firearm

• On Friday night, Martinez Castillo Lloyd, 34, allegedly left children unattended in his apartment with two firearms within easy access of the children, who all ranged in age from 10 to 13, according to the criminal complaint

• Lloyd, a convicted felon, was prohibited from having firearms, say prosecutors

• His 11-year-old son remains in critical condition. Per the complaint, his 13-year-old niece is a “suspect” in the case, which is closed based on her age

When St. Paul, Minn., police officers arrived on the doorstep of the young girl, she allegedly told them that she had “accidentally” shot someone.

“I didn’t know the gun was loaded,” the girl allegedly told the officers on March 29, per a complaint just filed in Minnesota's Second Judicial District Court Monday afternoon and obtained by PEOPLE.

She had shot her 11-year-old cousin in the face, investigators allege.

The St. Paul Police Department presented the girl's case to prosecutors, Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office tells PEOPLE. He did not provide additional information about any potential charges, citing Minnesota data privacy laws. The Associated Press identified the girl as being 13 years old.

The girl’s uncle, Martinez Castillo Lloyd, 34 – the father of the critically injured 11-year-old boy – is charged with felony possession of ammo/ any firearm by a convicted or adjudicated delinquent for a crime of violence and negligent storage of loaded firearms that a child can access, per the complaint.

The felony carries a maximum sentence of 15 years and/or a fine of $30,000. The negligent storage charge, which is considered a gross misdemeanor, carries a maximum sentence of one year behind bars and/or a $3,000 fine, per the complaint.

Lloyd, who has not yet pleaded to the charges, will make his first appearance in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday morning, per Gerhardstein. It's not immediately clear if he has retained an attorney.

Children had allegedly played with the convicted felon’s guns a dozen times within the last year, according to investigators.

But on March 29, the 13-year-old girl and the 11-year-old victim — among seven juveniles ranging in age from 10 to 13 — went into the Lloyd's bedroom while he allegedly left them unattended in his apartment and grabbed two firearms from an unlocked drawer in his closet “that juveniles can easily reach,” the complaint claims.

The 11-year-old boy grabbed a semiautomatic gun and the girl took a revolver, the complaint alleges.

“I won’t shoot him,” the girl allegedly said, according to several of the other children interviewed by police and cited in the complaint.

Usually, the firearms were unloaded. But this time was different, the complaint alleges.

As the girl allegedly waved the revolver in the air, the firearm went off, “striking” the 11-year-old “in the face,” per the complaint.

He fell, and the 13-year-old dropped the revolver and fled the apartment toward home, the complaint alleges.

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The remaining five other children carried the 11-year-old to the kitchen and gave him water “and then started to try to walk him outside the apartment at which point he collapsed and police arrived,” the complaint states.

Officers arrived just before 9 p.m. Friday, “to a chaotic scene with numerous juveniles,” per the complaint, describing the child “laying at the top of the stairs” inside the apartment building with “a gunshot wound to the face.”

He was rushed to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery and remains in critical condition as of the Monday court filing.

Police found the revolver stuffed under the couch cushions in the living room.

Lloyd allegedly later told officers that he knew the kids played with his guns– because he had seen them do it before and had “told the kids to put the firearms back,” the complaint claims. It further alleges that Lloyd said “he usually took the bullets out of the firearms.”

Lloyd – who was prohibited from possessing guns based on his felony conviction for sale of a controlled substance in the third degree – has eight prior case convictions, per the state court administrator’s office. (He was also previously convicted of felony burglary and misdemeanor domestic assault.)

Lloyd was arrested and booked in the Ramsey County jail March 30, according to the St. Paul Police Department. His bail is set at $200,000, per his order of detention.

“This tragedy is a painful reminder of the need to safely and securely store guns out of the reach of children,” Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said in a statement to PEOPLE, noting his Ramsey County Gun Safety Initiative, which provides free gun locks to its residents, available at local libraries and community centers.

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