JENKINTOWN, Pa. – A 15-year-old girl has been charged as an adult in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy in Abington Township Monday.
Timeline:
On Monday at around 5:01 p.m., Abington Township Police responded to a 911 call for an unresponsive person in the 100 block of York Road in the Jenkintown section of Abington Township.
Upon arrival at the residence, police found 17-year-old Baseem “Seyven” Baker dead on the bedroom floor from a gunshot wound.
A homicide investigation was then launched by Abington Township police and Montgomery County detectives.
After searching surveillance videos and interviews, detectives learned that Precious Hamilton, 15, had been at the Baker’s family residence since Friday night.
On Sunday, Oct. 5, officials say Baseem’s 18-year-old cousin told detectives that Hamilton pulled out a small handgun from her bag and showed it to them. The cousin also told detectives she showed them that the gun was loaded with live ammunition.
Detectives recovered a video and still photo, taken Sunday, from Baseem’s iPad that showed Hamilton holding the small-caliber handgun and “dry firing” the gun out the window of Haseem’s bedroom.
According to officials, dry firing is firing a gun without ammunition.
On Monday afternoon, officials say the victim’s mother left Baseem and Hamilton in the apartment at approximately 2:40 p.m., to go run errands with one of her younger children.
She told detectives that she reminded Baseem to lock the apartment door.
When she returned at approximately 4:30 p.m., she said the apartment door was unlocked and she found Baseem unresponsive in the bedroom.
Based on the autopsy report, officials rule the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was homicide.
What we know:
Hamilton was arrested and charged in adult court with Third-Degree Murder, Involuntary Manslaughter, Possession of a Firearm by a Minor and Firearms Not to be Carried Without a License.
Hamilton will be housed at the Montgomery County Youth Center.
A preliminary hearing will be scheduled.
The Source: The information in this story is from Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Abington Township Police.
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