Community Brings Teddy Bears, Balloons And Candles To Honor 3-Year-Old Girl Shot And Killed In Beltzhoover
BELTZHOOVER, Pa. (KDKA/AP) -- Mourners gathered at a vigil to remember a 3-year-old girl who was shot and killed over the weekend.
Everyone was asked to bring teddy bears, balloons and candles in Chassity Clancy's favorite colors: pink and purple.
The family says this love of a community helps a lot.
"Chassity was such a brilliant, vibrant little girl. If you seen Chassity, you loved her. When Chassity seen you, she loved you," said George Logan, the family's pastor and cousin.
Marlin Pritchard, 51, was charged Sunday with criminal homicide, child endangerment and weapons offenses in the death early Sunday of 3-year-old Clancy.
"Our hearts are made glad to show that the community and friends and family showed up and showed out for our baby," Logan said.
Pritchard told investigators he was sleeping next to the girl and another child in the home in the Belthoover neighborhood and had a pistol-grip shotgun under his pillow pointed in the direction of the children, authorities said in an affidavit of probable cause.
"Pritchard stated that he 'heard the bang' and saw that (one child) jumped up off the bed and run," authorities said in the affidavit.
Pritchard, described as the child's babysitter, told investigators he slept with the gun because of threats from other people, authorities said. He said a couple for whom he had done contracting work had come to the house Saturday to complain and threaten him, authorities said. He also cited an ongoing dispute for a year with another person, they said.
Police say Pritchard is a convicted felon and not allowed to have a gun.
WATCH: KDKA's Pam Surano Reports Live From The Vigil
He told authorities, "this is my fault."
KDKA spoke to Chassity's mother, who said she trusted Pritchard and his wife with her children.
Yet she said she does not believe this was an accident and doesn't agree with Pritchard's account of what happened.
The family is still working on planning the funeral for their little girl, and police continue to investigate.
(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
