Police: Philadelphia man 'recklessly' waving gun killed 4-year-old daughter

By Tribune wire reports

APRIL 18, 2016, 5:59 PM | PHILADELPHIA

A Philadelphia father was "carelessly and recklessly" waving a gun around a small bedroom with seven children present when it went off, killing his 4-year-old daughter, authorities said Monday.

Maurice Phillips, 30, has been charged with third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and reckless endangerment and related counts in Saturday afternoon's death of Tahirah Phillips.

Capt. James Clark, of the Philadelphia police homicide division, said Monday that the girl and her six siblings — who range in age from seven months to 13 — were in the bedroom of the Kensington home when Phillips came into the room, took his gun from its holster and started "carelessly and recklessly waving and pointing the gun around in the room." The gun went off, striking the girl in the back of her head, "killing her instantly," Clark said.

"We don't believe that he intended that to happen but because of his grossly negligent acts, this is ultimately what happened," Clark said.

The other children became upset and began yelling, investigators said. They said Phillips got off the bed where he was sitting and struck his 5-year-old daughter"with a closed fist" and then "wiped the blood from his hand onto her shirt" in an attempt to shift blame. Police initially believed the girl's sibling fired the weapon.

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