Officials: No argument before Florida boy shot his brother

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – The moments before 12-year-old Kevin Pimentel shot his two brothers were routine – the stuff that school nights are made of across America.

Just after 6 p.m. March 25, Kevin removed a box of fish sticks from the fridge and asked his 16-year-old brother Trevor to help him make dinner, according to details released Thursday by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

The boys were home alone with their 6-year-old brother; their mother was at one of her two jobs. Their 18-year-old half-brother also lived in the home, but he wasn’t there.

Trevor told officials that Kevin often fought with the younger brother over food, but on that evening, there wasn’t a specific argument.

Trevor rose from the couch to help Kevin, and that’s when Kevin walked to the back of the family’s mobile home. He returned with a gun and walked to the room of Brady, their younger brother.

Trevor told detectives that he heard the gunshot.

“Trevor immediately checked on his brother and then returned to the kitchen where Kevin was standing with the gun,” wrote Pasco Sheriff’s spokesman Kevin Doll in a statement. “Kevin approached Trevor, who was in shock from witnessing the incident with his youngest brother.”

Trevor pushed Kevin, who shot and wounded him in the leg.

Kevin then shot and killed himself.

Trevor called 911, according to officials, and an officer who arrived could hear Trevor screaming for help.

Detectives say they continue to investigate Kevin’s motive for shooting his brothers and are combing through his computer files and personal journal. They’re also interviewing friends and family members.

The boys’ father told the Tampa Bay Times earlier in the week that he shared custody with the kids’ mother, Helen Campochiaro. She had the kids for most of the week in the small trailer; officials said she didn’t have her own bedroom. Brady had his own room, and the other three boys shared the second room. Campochiaro slept in the living room.

Officials said the gun was kept in a case on the top shelf of a closet. The boy’s father – Luis Pimentel – questioned why the gun wasn’t secured.

“I just feel like the reason why my children aren’t alive today is because that gun wasn’t secured,” he told the paper.

Monday would have been Kevin’s 13th birthday.

Funeral services were held Wednesday for Brady and Kevin.

Trevor Pimentel attended his brothers’ funeral Wednesday in a wheelchair, along with his mother and about 400 other mourners.