Boy, 15, charged in shooting death of girl

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HOMESTEAD, Fla., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old boy was charged in the death of a 13-year-old girl in what police said was an accidental shooting aboard a school bus in Florida, officials said.

Miami-Dade police Tuesday charged Jordyn Alexander Howe with manslaughter and carrying a concealed firearm in the death of Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus in Homestead, The Miami Herald reported.

An arrest affidavit said the gun went off when Howe pulled the weapon out of his back pack to show it off. Guzman-DeJesus was struck in the neck.

She was flown to Miami Children's Hospital, where she died, officials said. No one else was injured.

Howe was taken to Miami-Dade police headquarters, where he gave a sworn statement, the affidavit said. He later was taken to Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center.

The Miami-Dade homicide unit is handling the case because Homestead does not have homicide detectives.

Guzman-DeJesus and her younger sister were among eight students on the private bus transporting the children to three Homestead-area charter schools.

Guzman-DeJesus was born in New Brunswick, N.J. Her mother, Ady DeJesus, is recreation director for Coral Reef Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Miami, the Herald said.

In a statement, DeJesus called her daughter "a beautiful angel" who was an honor roll student and loved her siblings.

"Feels like just yesterday I saw her running around in her Pamper, dancing and modeling for the camera," she said. "Times and moments spent with Jina are memories I will cherish and keep in my heart forever."