Altamonte Springs man arrested after toddler fatally shoots mom on Zoom call

Author: Sophie Reardon / CBS
Published:
Crash
Credit: CBS

A 22-year-old man has been arrested after a toddler found a loaded gun and shot his mother while she was on a Zoom call in August, the Florida State Attorney’s Office said Tuesday. Shamaya Lynn, 21, died from the gunshot wound.

Veondre Avery, Lynn’s boyfriend and the alleged owner of the gun, was charged with negligent manslaughter and unsafe storage of a firearm. He was taken to the Seminole County Jail without incident, the attorney’s office said.

Lynn was on a Zoom conference call for work on August 11 when she fell backward and never returned to the call, the attorney’s office said. Another person on the call called 911, reporting that they saw a toddler in the background, heard a noise and saw Lynn fall.

Altamonte Springs Police said officers arrived at the couple’s apartment and found Lynn had been shot in the head and Avery was attempting to perform CPR. Lynn died at the scene, according to the attorney’s office.

Investigators determined Lynn’s 2-year-old child found a loaded gun in a “Paw Patrol” backpack in the couple’s bedroom and fired it. The gun had been left in the apartment by an adult, police wrote in a statement.

Police asked anyone with more information about the case to contact them at 407-339-2441 or to dial 911.

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