SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A distraught grandmother is speaking out and demanding answers, hours after, she said, her 3-year-old granddaughter accidentally shot herself in the hand in a Southwest Miami-Dade home.
Cellphone video captured the young victim, Serenity, as she lay in bed with a bandaged hand.
Robin Fuller said she was devastated to learn about the serious injury, Sunday afternoon.
“She could’ve died. It could’ve been worse than this,” she said. “I don’t appreciate it at all.”
Even more disturbing, Fuller said, is that Serenity discharged the firearm with her 4-year-old brother just inches away.
“It could’ve been him. She could’ve shot herself in the head or anywhere else,” she said.
Fuller said she was at work when she received the call. She rushed to the home, located along Southwest 220th Terrace where, she said, her granddaughter pulled the trigger with multiple adults present.
“Why did this happen? That’s my concern. Why were the kids alone long enough to get to a gun, to shoot a gun?” said Fuller. “Where’s the safety? Where’s the love? Where’s the care? Where’s the concern?”
Concern not just for Serenity, but also for her brother, Benjamin.
“He’s traumatized. When I pulled up, he said, ‘Serenity died, and she was bleeding on the hand,'” said Fuller, “and so, I just explained to him that Serenity is not dead. I FaceTimed Serenity, and I let him see his sister at the hospital, in the hospital bed, and he told her, ‘I love you so much, Serenity,’ and that’s all he’s been saying, is, ‘I love my sister so much.'”
Fuller said that what she wants now is answers, and for whoever is responsible to be held accountable.
However, she is also grateful that Serenity has her mother by her side, as they pray for a full recovery.
“Right now, I’m happy that they FaceTimed me, and the hospital in Homestead said they are going to try and save the finger,” said Fuller, “so we are waiting for them to transport her to Nicklaus, where they can perform surgery. Hopefully that goes well.”
Serenity was taken to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Southwest Miami-Dade where she will undergo surgery to reattach her finger.
As of Monday morning, police said they arrested a 23-year-old family member.
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