Hundreds at vigil mourn Noblesville teen

Two years after Aubrey Peters was hailed as a hero for helping save two children who fell through ice on Morse Reservoir, grieving teens gathered near that scene Monday night to remember the teenage girl who died this past weekend in what is believed to be an accidental shooting.

Hundreds gathered on the shoreline of Morse Beach Park in Noblesville at a candlelight vigil to remember Peters, 16, who died Sunday after a man shot her with a handgun he thought would be empty, court documents say.

Jacob Travis McDaniel, 20, Noblesville, was charged Monday afternoon with reckless homicide in the death of Peters.

Students from Noblesville and nearby high schools paid tribute to Peters, who was a junior at Noblesville High School, by releasing balloons beneath a tree so their tethers would tangle in branches and become suspended in the freezing air.

Joe Hodson, Peters' boyfriend, was surrounded by friends as he walked away from a row of candles along the water. He used his finger to write a message in the snow: "JH + AP forever."

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2013/12/09/noblesville-man-arrested-in-shooting-of-girl-16/3915037/

According to the affidavit, McDaniel was showing Peters and the two other men a shotgun and a handgun. Dajuan Williams, one of the men, told police that "McDaniel tried to get Aubrey to hold the gun, but she didn't want to."

At that point, Williams told police, McDaniel ejected the magazine from the gun, pointed the weapon at Peters, took the safety off and pulled the trigger.

McDaniel apparently thought the gun was empty, the affidavit said, but when he pulled the trigger, a round fired.

"Aubrey clutched her chest and said, 'What just happened?'"