A mother in Florida faces accusations of shooting her teenage daughter at a McDonald’s after a verbal dispute, as reported by police.
A 32-year-old woman claims the gun was fired by accident. She faces four felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, along with misdemeanor charges of battery and culpable negligence, according to court records from Miami-Dade County.
Police in Miami-Dade arrived at the McDonald’s located at 9250 NW 7th Avenue shortly after 10 p.m., as detailed in an arrest affidavit. A verbal dispute between a woman, her 15-year-old daughter, and her two female cousins preceded the shooting, according to court documents.
A victim reported to the police that the dispute started when a cousin gestured toward the door, inadvertently causing the mother to believe she was the target of the gesture, as stated in the affidavit. The dispute escalated beyond the McDonald’s as the girls entered the Lyft they had summoned, the legal document stated.
During the dispute, the mother took a gun from her car, knocked on the Lyft vehicle’s window, and threatened to “shoot and kill” her daughter and her two cousins, according to the affidavit.
A gun was accidentally discharged while aimed at a Lyft vehicle that was leaving, resulting in a shot that hit her daughter in the left shoulder, as stated in the affidavit. The mother informed authorities that the firearm was positioned on her waistband and discharged when she “accidentally fell,” as stated in the court document.
Authorities reviewed surveillance and phone footage of the event, revealing the woman brandishing a firearm as she tapped on the back passenger window of the Lyft, according to the affidavit.
A Lyft driver reported to the police that the mother reached into his car and attacked one of the cousins, as stated in the affidavit. The court document went on to describe how she aimed the gun at him and the passengers in a very aggressive way.
A woman was booked on Saturday morning at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami-Dade County, according to inmate records. On Sunday, she chose not to speak in court while a judge established her bond at $22,000 and instructed her to maintain distance from her daughter and two cousins.