Gun play leads to death of 26 year old Aberdeen man

ABERDEEN, MISS. (WCBI) – Playing with a gun can be dangerous and in Aberdeen, it turned deadly and leads to a teen in jail.

18-year-old Amyia Verner of Hamilton is charged with manslaughter and remains in the Monroe County jail. Bond has not been set for Verner.

The shooting happened at Southview Apartments on Tuesday afternoon.

Monroe County Coroner Alan Gurley says 26-year-old Robert Jackson of Aberdeen died at the scene from a gunshot wound.

Aberdeen Police Chief Henry Randle says Verner made a tragic mistake that she can’t come back from.

Investigators believe Verner and Jackson were playing with a gun they thought was unloaded when it fired.

Randle says this is a sad situation for the families involved.

“If you don’t know how to work a gun, the mechanics of a gun, you don’t know how to check it out… please put that gun up. Please do not have that gun laying around so anybody can access it,” said Randal.  “Because like I said once before, taking a magazine out of a gun does not clear the gun. And you know, no knowledge of a gun leads to the situation that we have now.”

An autopsy has been ordered. The incident remains under investigation.