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Attorney, Family Insist Fatal Upper St. Clair Shooting Was Accidental

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - The attorney representing a Missouri woman charged in the early morning death of her cousin in western Pennsylvania calls it the result of an accidental shooting.

Twenty-eight-year-old Stephanie Munizza of Maryland Heights is charged with criminal homicide in Allegheny County in the 4 a.m. Saturday shooting death of 27-year-old Joshua Poremski in Upper St. Clair.

Investigators said in a criminal complaint that the two had been talking about Munizza possibly getting a concealed carry permit, and Poremski offered his gun to her.

Witnesses told police that she gripped the gun with two hands and pointed it at him, and he asked her whether she would be able to shoot someone, and the gun discharged.

Defense attorney David Shrager called the death "a terrible, terrible tragedy" but said it was accidental.

"Even the parents of the descendant are insisting that this was an accident and don't want her in jail," said Shrager.

Police say the shooting happened after both cousins were heavily drinking.

"The whole family is devastated because their son is dead and the beloved niece… that's their niece, and they want her out," Shrager said.

She is currently in the Allegheny County Jail.

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