Questions still surround the death of 13-year-old Monae Turnage, who was found, March 4, in an alley near her family’s home by her 16 year-old brother and friends.
Turnage appears to have suffered a .22 caliber gunshot wound while visiting friends at a house in the 1600 block of Darley Avenue on Saturday night around 6 p.m.
Police say the children were playing with the gun when it went off, striking Turnage in the chest. No 911 calls were made to police to report the incident after it occurred, leading Turnage’s family to search for her all night and into the next day when her acquaintances weren’t forthcoming about what had taken place in the home. The shooting has been ruled an accident by police, however, two adolescent boys, ages 12 and 13, have been formally charged with juvenile involuntary manslaughter and are being held at the Baltimore City Juvenile Detention Center. Information about why the gun was accessible, who owned the gun, and how the gun got into the hands of minors remains to be disclosed by police. “It saddens us all,” said Edie House-Foster, director of communications for Baltimore City Public Schools. “We all grieve over the loss of a child in our school community.” Turnage was a student at William C. March Middle School and told her family she was going to a skating rink with friends when she left Saturday evening.
“She was a great kid with a wonderful and bubbly personality. Always good for a smile and some good morning cheer. There are a lot of different emotions going on right now with the students,” said Dr. Iona M. Spikes, who has encouraged every student to express their feelings and talk with grief counselors on hand. “Right now we are very conflicted. It’s almost like we’re losing two students,” said Dr. Spikes, who was principal not only to Monae Turnage, but also to one of the minors charged in the crime.
“All children deserve to feel safe and secure in their homes and in their neighborhoods,” said Councilman Carl Stokes in a statement responding to the death of Turnage. “This innocent child had the promise of a bright future unjustifiably snatched away from her and now her family and the entire community are left to cope with this tremendous loss.” The death occurred just two days before U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg ruled it unconstitutional to force Marylanders to give officials proper reason before receiving a gun permit. Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has gone to great lengths to toughen gun laws not only within the city, but across the state. According to the Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), Maryland ranked 7 of the nation’s 50 states when it came to tough gun laws. Currently, Maryland gun laws include restrictions on buying more than one handgun in a 30 period, and the requirement that all handguns have safety locks.
However, as of last year, Maryland had no law requiring owners of guns to report a missing firearm as lost or stolen, and innocent lives are still being taken as a result of guns finding their way into the hands of children. Reports from the FBI show that firearms helped carry out 67.5 percent of all murders nationwide, 41.4 percent of robberies and 20.6 percent of aggravated assaults in the country in 2010.
