Girl, 18, Dies After Seven Fields Shooting
SEVEN FIELDS (KDKA) - Police are investigating after an 18-year-old girl was shot and killed in Seven Fields Tuesday night.
According to police, the shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. in the 100-block of Woodhaven Road.
The victim has been identified as Courtney Daily, 18, of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Police have arrested Eric Rutledge, 18, and have charged him with one count of criminal homicide.
Rutledge said he had been friends with the Daily since a young age and that the shooting was a tragic accident.
The mother of the suspect said that her son could not have possibly hurt someone that he loved very much.
"Upon their arrival, they found Eric Rutledge, who resides at that residence, in the foyer area. Officers located an 18-year-old female, Courtney Daily, in the upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to the upper body. She was transported by medical chopper to UPMC Presbyterian where she was pronounced dead at 12:32 this morning," Cranberry Township Police Sergeant Chuck Mascellino said.
As doctors lost the fight to save her life, Rutledge was accused of murder and was taken to the Butler County Jail.
"He is hysterical. He's in jail right now. He's crying. He didn't mean to do anything like that," Lillie Rutledge said.
The Rutledges had just moved to the area about a month ago from Colorado. Daily was in town to visit.
"Courtney and him have been really close friends, like I said, from the third grade. It wasn't intentional at all. They were playing around. They were watching a scary movie on [television]. And then they had that rifle and they thought it was – it was just something they were wrestling around with and it went off," Lillie Rutledge said.
However, court records show that they were both pointing the gun at each other and asking if they could shoot themselves or possibly someone else.
Thinking the gun wasn't loaded, he pulled the trigger.
"They had no reason to do anything to purposely injure themselves or hurt her. And right now Eric still doesn't believe that she's gone," Lillie Rutledge said.
Police are still investigating if the shooting was just an accident.
Lillie Rutledge said alcohol did play a role in the incident.
Daily was only staying at the home for a brief time as she was on her way to her grandmother's house to make amends after a life-long disagreement.
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