3-Year-Old Toddler Accidentally Shoots 5-Year-Old Cousin To Death On Thanksgiving

A three-year-old toddler reportedly accidentally shot his five-year-old cousin to death while playing with a handgun in South Fulton, Georgia on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 25.

According to the victim's family members, the 3-year-old child found a registered handgun under a sofa cushion and accidentally fired it into the chest of his 5-year-old cousin, Khalis Eberhart, while the families were celebrating Thanksgiving at the Camp Creek Apartments on Washington Road.

The family members immediately rushed the toddler to a nearby hospital. However, she subsequently succumbed to her fatal injuries, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.

"I wasn't careless. My baby was shot. I didn't do anything wrong. I am going through the pain," the victim's father Nathaniel Eberhart said.

Nathaniel said that the family had just arrived at the apartment and that they had only been in there for about five minutes when they heard the gunshot.

"Not even five minutes later we were in there and you hear the pop. I thought it was a broom. I saw my nephew, he started freaking out. I grabbed her and tried to stop the bleeding. We did all we could do," Nathaniel said.

The child's grandmother, Tracy Towns, said that the young Eberhart had a very vibrant and charismatic spirit. She said that the girl always had a smile on her face and that she always kept everyone laughing, People reported.

The toddler leaves behind a six-year-old older brother and her twin.

"She and her twin had a great bond. When you saw one, you saw the other one," Towns said. "They were always holding hands, hugging. They were always together. They talked to one another. They had a language that nobody else could understand."

The grandmother also said that the tragedy will be difficult for the family to overcome.

"It's Thanksgiving every day to us, but I don't think we'll ever, ever celebrate Thanksgiving the way we normally do no more," Towns explained.

The family had also been grieving the tragedy of losing Eberhart's mother, who died earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the South Fulton police are still investigating the incident.

"The weapon was just left accessible to children playing in the living room," Chief Keith Meadows of the South Fulton Police Department said.

The chief added that the decision on whether to charge someone in the incident will be made by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.